Combination of polyaniline and graphene oxide as counter electrode composites in dye-sensitized solar cells

Graphene oxide (GO) has good conductivity and polyaniline has good electrocatalytic activity. The usage of PANI and GO composites film as a counter electrode in DSSC was demonstrated. PANI was prepared using a rapid mixing method at 0 °C for 24 hours. While GO was synthesized using sonication-assisted oxidation of graphite. PANI and GO were blended to produce PANI/GO composites. PANI/GO composites were deposited on synthetic graphite substrate laminated onto glass and applied as the counter electrode of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC). The interactions between PANI and GO, i.e. electrostatic interaction, π−π stacking interaction and hydrogen bonding;accelerate the charge transfer in the counter electrode. The optimum performance was obtained for PANI/GO of 3:1 w/w. Here, the fill factor (FF), open circuit current (Voc), optimum short circuit current density (Jsc) and power conversion efficiency (PCE) under AM 1.5 100 mW cm−2 illumination are 43.2%, 0.64 Volt, 7.308 mA/cm2, and 2.25%, respectively.