A Comparison Study of Furnace and Atmospheric-Pressure-Plasma Jet Calcined Pt-Decorated Reduced Graphene Oxides for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell Application

We performed a comparative study of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) with screen-printed Pt-decorated reduced graphene oxides (Pt/rGOs) processed by furnace- and atmospheric-pressure-plasma jet (APPJ)-calcination (substrate temperature = 510 degrees C). A nitrogen APPJ interacts vigorously with carbonaceous materials in the pastes to enhance DSSC efficiency with a shorter processing time. However, prolonged APPJ-calcination can damage/oxidize rGOs; therefore, for longer processing times, furnace-calcination in turn achieves better DSSC performance. These results agree well with those of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and Tafel experiments. (c) 2017 The Electrochemical Society. All rights reserved.