Researchers from the Michigan Technological University discovered that the addition of graphene augmented the conductivity of titanium dioxide, thus increasing the electricity production in a dye-sensitized solar cells by 52.4%. Graphene’s superior electrical conductivity enables it to function as bridges, thus speeding up electron transfer between the titanium dioxide and the photoelectrode.
The team also developed a low-cost, comparatively foolproof technique to synthesize titanium dioxide sheets embedded with the nanomaterial. The idea is to first create a graphite oxide powder and then form a paste by mixing the powder with titanium dioxide. The paste is then applied over a substrate (glass for example) and baked at high temperatures.
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Posted: Apr 27,2012 by Ron Mertens