Graphene oxide hydrogel electrolyte for improving the performance of electropolymerized polyaniline solar cells

In this proof-of-concept study, we reported the incorporation of a graphene oxide hydrogel (GO-gel) electrolyte as the cathode and the electropolymerized aniline (E-PANI) in situ on a titanium oxide (TiO2)-coated fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) as the anode in an organic solar cell (OSC) for the first time, to the best of our knowledge. Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), cyclic voltammetry (CV), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) were applied for characterization studies. The incorporation of GO-gel electrolyte within E-PANI significantly enhanced the power conversion efficiency (PCE) by 257.0% compared to the standard E-PANI solar cell with a liquid electrolyte. Under an AM 1.5 G (100 mW/cm2) illumination, the final OSC (FTO│TiO2/E-PANI/GO-gel-I-/I3−│Al) demonstrated an overall PCE of 4.35% with an open circuit voltage (Voc) of 0.889 V and a short circuit current density (Jsc) of 15.13 mA/cm2. The photovoltaic properties were found to be superior to those of the previously reported E-PANI-based solar cells. Our preliminary results showed that the rheological properties, PCE and stability were significantly enhanced with the incorporation of GO-gel electrolyte. Thus, GO-gel electrolytes provide a promising platform for the development of high-efficiency photovoltaic devices in the near future. [Display omitted] •A graphene oxide (GO) hydrogel iodide/triiodide electrolyte was synthesized.•The GO hydrogel electrolyte was incorporated into a solar cell.•The electropolymerized PANI was utilized as the active layer.•The stability of the solar cell was enhanced in the presence of GO hydrogel electrolyte.•A PCE of 4.35% was recorded for the polymer solar cell.