Characteristics of PANi/rGO Nanocomposite as Protective Coating and Catalyst in Dye-sensitized Solar Cell Counter Electrode Deposited on AISI 1086 Steel Substrate

One of the possibilities to mass-produce dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) device is if it could be embedded to the area atop metal roof. However, the use of metal substrate is constrained by the corrosion caused by the electrolyte solution used in the DSSC device such as iodide/tri-iodide (I-/I3-). In this study, we propose the utilization of polyaniline/reduced graphene oxide (PANi/rGO) nanocomposite as protective coating and at the same time as catalyst for the DSSC counter electrode on AISI 1086 steel substrates. The work was started by synthesizing PANi and rGO and assembling the PANi/rGO nanocomposite in a DSSC device. The characterization was performed using X-ray diffraction (XRD) for crystal structure, infrared (FTIR) for functional groups, scanning electron microscope (SEM) for surface morphology, potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) for corrosion testing, and semiconductor parameter analyzer (SPA) for the DSSC device performance. The result showed that the decrease of corrosion rates in AISI 1086 steel was proportional to the rGO concentrations in PANi/rGO nanocomposites. The lowest corrosion rate was obtained at the highest rGO composition, i.e. PANi/rGO 8 wt% with corrosion rate (CR) of 0.2 mm/year and protection efficiency of 80.3 %. The DSSC performance test revealed that PANi/rGO composite could be used as an alternative catalyst for I-/I3- based redox electrolyte in the DSSC solar cell applications in replacement for platinum. The highest power conversion efficiency of 5.38 % was obtained from PANi/rGO 4 wt%.