Effect of HNO3 functionalization on large scale graphene for enhanced tri-iodide reduction in dye-sensitized solar cells

Santanu Das, P. Sudhagar, Eisuke Ito, Dong Yoon Lee, S. Nagarajan, Sang-Yun Lee, Yong Soo Kang*, Wonbong Choi

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

105 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Improving the electro-catalytic activity of graphene has recently been the subject of intense research for high efficiency flexible energy storage and conversion devices. We report the synthesis of a large scale graphene film by a CVD method and its electro-catalytic activity by functionalization with HNO 3 for a high efficiency electrochemical electrode in DSSCs. We found that HNO3 functionalization on graphene enhances the tri-iodide reduction rate by three times in a dye sensitized solar cell compared to that of pristine graphene. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and ultra-violet photoemission spectroscopy (UPS) studies confirm the covalently attached C-OH, C(O)OH and NO3- moieties to carbon atoms through sp 2-sp3 hybridization, and this results in the Fermi level shift towards p-type doping. We believe that the covalently attached functional groups cause the enrichment of the electro-catalytically active sites along with facilitating the charge transfer kinetics from graphene counter electrodes to redox couples. The enhanced catalytic effect of functionalized graphene offers insights into new types of electrode development opportunities in graphene based energy storage and conversion devices.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)20490-20497
Number of pages8
JournalJournal of Materials Chemistry
Volume22
Issue number38
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 14 Oct 2012

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Chemistry
  • Materials Chemistry

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