Environmentally Friendly Method for Synthesizing Reduced Graphene Oxide (rGO) for Transparent Conductive Electrode (TCE) in Solar Cells

We have synthesized reduced graphene oxide (rGO) in a green solution-processable method to be used as a transparent conductive electrode (TCE) in photovoltaic devices. Ascorbic acid (L-AA) reductant was used as an environmentfriendly alternative for hydrazine. rGO produced by L-AA can display promising electrical and optical properties. rGO can be dissolved in water and other organic solvents, then solution-deposited to form thin films on the substrate to form TCE. FTIR measurements determined the chemical composition of the synthesized rGO to be mainly carbon. The conductivity of rGO was measured; the resultant value indicated the structure to be deoxygenated graphene. The synthesized rGO is applicable to large-scale TCE in photovoltaic devices.