Graphene-incorporated nanocrystalline TiO2 films for CdS quantum dot-sensitized solar cells

Quantum dot-sensitized solar cells (QDSSCs) based on TiO2 film photoanode incorporated with different amounts of graphene are fabricated and their photovoltaic performances are investigated. The results show that the CdS QDSSC incorporating 0.8 wt.% graphene in TiO2 photoanode demonstrates a maximum power conversion efficiency of 1.44%, 56% higher than that without graphene. The performance improvement is ascribed to the increased CdS adsorption, the reduction of electron recombination and back-transport reaction as well as the enhancement of electron transport with the introduction of graphene.