Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells with Graphene Electron Extraction Layer

This work aims to improve the conversion efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) by introducing a new material, graphene, into the DSSC structure. Graphene is a potential material for many applications due to their high electron mobility, outstanding optical properties, and thermal, chemical, and mechanical stability. Therefore, this study changes several parameters, structures, and methods to optimize and compare with the traditional DSSCs. There are three major respects about with or without graphene, the method of plating or sputtering, and the structure of graphene/TiO2 or TiO2/graphene/TiO2 in DSSCs solar cells. Finally, this research knows that the method of sputtering is much better than plating; the conversion efficiency of solar energy with graphene/TiO2 was increased from 1.45 % to 3.98 %, and the conversion efficiency with TiO2/graphene/TiO2 sandwich structure was increased from 1.38 % to 3.93 %. It means that the new material, graphene, works in enhancing the conversion efficiency of DSSCs