Laser-scribed reduced graphene oxide as counter electrode for dye-sensitized solar cell

Reduced graphene oxide (rGO) has been attracted considerable attention in the field of dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) to serve as a low cost and earth-abundant alternative to the conventional platinum-based counter electrodes. Recently direct laser writing technologies are emerging as an inexpensive, time-efficient and high-resolution method to produce catalytic rGO-based electrodes. Herein, we experimentally demonstrate that the laser-scribed rGO on ITO/PEN substrate was produced by a commercial LightScribe DVD burner and used as counter electrode for DSSC. SEM and Raman spectroscopy characterizations reveal that after laser-scribing rGO film presents a roughness structure with multi-layer curled or tilting graphenes. The cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectrum (EIS) analyses were also conducted to explore its electrocatalytic activity and charge-transfer properties. Finally, the DSSC based on rGO counter electrode achieved a power conversion efficiency of 2.07% under one sun AM 1.5 G illumination. This work developed a simple and promising laser-scribing method to prepare rGO-based counter electrode materials for DSSCs applications.