Graphene on Metal Grids as the Transparent Conductive Material for Dye Sensitized Solar Cell

Metal grids covered by graphene were used as transparent conductive electrodes in dye sensitized solar cells. The efficiency of dye sensitized solar cells with graphene-on-Pt grids was 0.4%. Compared to the control group, in which the platinum grids were used as a transparent conductive layer, the efficiency of dye sensitized solar cells with graphene was more than 2 times better. To our knowledge, it is the most efficient dye sensitized solar cell to use a graphene-based transparent conductive electrode without a conductive oxide support such as fluorine-doped tin oxide or indium-doped tin oxide. The dye sensitized solar cell prepared by 150 °C as the low temperature processes, which are essential for fabricating flexible dye sensitized solar cells, was fabricated using a hybrid graphene on Ni grids transparent conductive electrode, and it exhibited an efficiency of 0.25%. The mechanical properties of the flexible hybrid transparent electrode are better than the oxide-based transparent conductive electrode in both bending and stretching tests. Therefore, the long-term stability of the flexible dye sensitized solar cells could be enhanced by using this new transparent conductive layer.