Study of graphene doped zinc oxide nanocomposite as transparent conducting oxide electrodes for solar cell applications

The graphite oxide (GO) was prepared based on the modified Hummers method, then reacted with zinc acetate aqueous, sodium hydroxide aqueous and hydrazine hydrate, and was doped into ZnO eventually to form graphene doped ZnO, an alternative transparent conducting oxide (TCO) for solar cell applications. The samples were characterized by Raman spectrometer, X-ray diffractometer, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscope, and compared with widely used aluminum doped ZnO (AZO) in resistivity and transmissivity. The results show that the transmissivity of graphene doped ZnO reaches the same level as that of AZO in visible light band. In ultraviolet light wave band, the transmissivity of graphene doped ZnO reaches as high as 50%, exceeding that of AZO which is only 20%. The resistivity of optimized graphene doped ZnO is 1.03 × 10^?5 Ω · m, approaching AZO resistivity which is about 10^?4–10^?6 Ω ·m. As a result, graphene doped ZnO may have potential applications in the area of TCO due to its low cost and high performance.