Effect of modified titanium dioxide photoanode and agarose gel electrolyte on electrochemical studies of dye-sensitized solar cell

Recently, the study of new DSSC structures such as photoanodes, electrolytes, and counter electrodes (CE) have gained the attention of researchers. Combining these features allows DSSC to have a flexible and versatile way of working. Titanium dioxide-graphene (TiO2-G) nanocomposite containing 3 wt % graphene (G) was successfully fabricated and employed as the photoanode for the fabrication of a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC). Agarose (3 wt %) together with potassium iodide (KI) were prepared as gel electrolytes and polyaniline-graphene oxide (PANI-GO) served as the counter electrode (CE). In UV-visible spectroscopy, doping of graphene on TiO2 led to a remarkable reduction of the band gap energy from 3.0 eV (TiO2) to 2.4 eV (TiO2-G). The presence of agarose in the KI solution facilitated the creation of fine channels, promoting ionic transfer in electrolytes, as revealed by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). Moreover, the current-voltage (I-V) curve for TiO2-G/3 wt % agarose gel electrolyte/PANI-GO demonstrated a power conversion efficiency (PCE) value of 1.1324% with optimal values for short circuit current density (JSC), open circuit voltage (VOC), and fill factor (FF) of 34.48 mA/ cm2, 0.1105 V, and 0.2972, respectively. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) illustrated redox potential occurrences at -0.2 V and +0.2 V, corresponding to oxidation and reduction processes, confirming the chemical stability of DSSC. The system demonstrated stability after 10 cycles, maintaining consistent current (mu A) and voltage (V) patterns even after 20 cycles. These results demonstrate the efficient and cost-effective DSSC system's capacity to maintain stability and guarantee consistent energy conversion.