Influence of Sputtering Temperature of TiO<sub>2</sub> Deposited onto Reduced Graphene Oxide Nanosheet as Efficient Photoanodes in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells
Foo Wah Low,
Goh Chin Hock,
Muhammad Kashif,
Nurul Asma Samsudin,
Chien Fat Chau,
Amaliyah Rohsari Indah Utami,
Mohammad Aminul Islam,
Cheng Yong Heah,
Yun Ming Liew,
Chin Wei Lai,
Nowshad Amin,
Sieh Kiong Tiong
Affiliations
Foo Wah Low
Department of Electrical & Electronic Engineering, Lee Kong Chian Faculty of Engineering & Science, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, Bandar Sungai Long, Kajang 43000, Selangor, Malaysia
Goh Chin Hock
Institute of Sustainable Energy, Universiti Tenaga Nasional (The Energy University), Jalan IKRAM-UNITEN, Kajang 43000, Selangor, Malaysia
Muhammad Kashif
School of Electrical & Information Engineering, Tianjin University, 92 Weijin Road, Nankai District, Tianjin 300072, China
Nurul Asma Samsudin
Institute of Sustainable Energy, Universiti Tenaga Nasional (The Energy University), Jalan IKRAM-UNITEN, Kajang 43000, Selangor, Malaysia
Chien Fat Chau
College of Engineering, Universiti Tenaga Nasional (The Energy University), Jalan IKRAM-UNITEN, Kajang 43000, Selangor, Malaysia
Amaliyah Rohsari Indah Utami
Engineering Physics, School of Electrical Engineering, Telkom University, Bandung 40257, Indonesia
Mohammad Aminul Islam
Institute of Sustainable Energy, Universiti Tenaga Nasional (The Energy University), Jalan IKRAM-UNITEN, Kajang 43000, Selangor, Malaysia
Cheng Yong Heah
Faculty of Engineering Technology, Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), Sungai Chuchuh, Padang Besar, Kangar 02100, Perlis, Malaysia
Yun Ming Liew
Center of Excellence Geopolymer and Green Technology (CeGeoGTech), School of Materials Engineering, Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), Kangar 01000, Perlis, Malaysia
Chin Wei Lai
Nanotechnology and Catalysis Research Centre (NANOCAT), Level 3, Block A, Institute for Advanced Studies (IAS), University of Malaya (UM), Kuala Lumpur 50603, Selangor, Malaysia
Nowshad Amin
Institute of Sustainable Energy, Universiti Tenaga Nasional (The Energy University), Jalan IKRAM-UNITEN, Kajang 43000, Selangor, Malaysia
Sieh Kiong Tiong
Institute of Sustainable Energy, Universiti Tenaga Nasional (The Energy University), Jalan IKRAM-UNITEN, Kajang 43000, Selangor, Malaysia
Renewable solar energy is the key target to reduce fossil fuel consumption, minimize global warming issues, and indirectly minimizes erratic weather patterns. Herein, the authors synthesized an ultrathin reduced graphene oxide (rGO) nanosheet with ~47 nm via an improved Hummer’s method. The TiO2 was deposited by RF sputtering onto an rGO nanosheet with a variation of temperature to enhance the photogenerated electron or charge carrier mobility transport for the photoanode component. The morphology, topologies, element composition, crystallinity as well as dye-sensitized solar cells’ (DSSCs) performance were determined accordingly. Based on the results, FTIR spectra revealed presence of Ti-O-C bonds in every rGO-TiO2 nanocomposite samples at 800 cm–1. Besides, XRD revealed that a broad peak of anatase TiO2 was detected at ~25.4° after incorporation with the rGO. Furthermore, it was discovered that sputtering temperature of 120 °C created a desired power conversion energy (PCE) of 7.27% based on the J-V plot. Further increase of the sputtering temperature to 160 °C and 200 °C led to excessive TiO2 growth on the rGO nanosheet, thus resulting in undesirable charge recombination formed at the photoanode in the DSSC device.
