LAUSR

Abstract The goal of this study was to create highly efficient dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) using strontium doped zinc oxide-reduced graphene oxide (Sr-doped ZnO/rGO) nanocomposites. As photo-anodes of DSSCs, ZnO, ZnO/rGO (with weight percent rGO in composites: 0, 0.01, 0.1, 0.5, and 1 wt%) and Sr-doped ZnO/rGO (with Zn1-xSrxO nanoparticle stoichiometry: x = 0, 0.02, 0.04, 0.06 and 0.08) nanocomposites were designed and characterized. AFM, FESEM, XRD, EDS, XPS, PL, and FTIR analyses were used to investigate the morphology and structure properties of prepared nanocomposites. UV–vis spectroscopy and photo-electrochemical measurements were used to investigate the efficiency of prepared photo-anodes. The efficiency (η) and short-circuit photocurrent density (JSC) of DSSCs based on Zn0.92Sr0.08O/rGO nanocomposite were 7.98 % and 18.4 mA cm−2, respectively. The results showed that doping Sr on ZnO/rGO nanocomposites resulted in a wide bandgap energy and increased the values of η, JSC, IPCE, and photo-anode electron transportability. These findings suggest that Sr-doped ZnO/rGO nanocomposites can provide a novel approach for increasing photo-electrochemical activity in ZnO-based DSSCs.