Synthesis of platinum/reduced graphene oxide composite for cathode in dye‐sensitized solar cells

AbstractPlatinum/reduced graphene oxide (Pt/rGO) composite materials with different mass ratios were fabricated by thermal decomposition method from H2PtCl6 and reduce graphene oxide (rGO) as precursors. Pt/rGO composites were used to fabricate Pt/rGO thin film cathodes by using the screen printing technology. The electrochemical properties of the fabricated cathodes were measured using the cyclic voltammetry method. Dye‐sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) were assembled from fabricated cathodes and were measured the performances by current density‐voltage (J‐V) curves and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The results showed the appropriate replacement amount rGO with Pt was 40 %, with the efficiency of 4.73 %, which was higher than that of commercial Pt cathode. The characterizations of the appropriate Pt/rGO composite were investigated by Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and Raman spectroscopy. X‐ray diffraction (XRD) patterns indicated that the interlayer distance between the rGO was 0.35 nm while the transmission electron microscopy (TEM) image showed the Pt nanoparticles with size of 10‐20 nm were evenly distributed on the rGO sheets. These results indicated that Pt/rGO could be appropriated material to replace Pt in DSSCs to reduce the produce cost and enhance the efficiency.