Revitalizing Battery Waste: Graphite Electrode‐Derived Graphene Oxide as Electrocatalyst for Advancing Platinum‐Free Dye‐Sensitized Solar Cells

ABSTRACT In this study, graphene oxide was obtained from graphite electrodes of waste dry cell batteries and characterized via SEM, XRD, and four‐probe conductivity analyses. The composite was made by mixing graphene oxide with polyvinylpyrrolidone and applied to a conductive glass substrate to produce the counter electrode for dye‐sensitized solar cells. Current–voltage characteristics were used to evaluate the resulting cells. The results showed that the concentration of polyvinylpyrrolidone in the paste significantly affected the photovoltaic performance of cells. Under optimal conditions, the cell with a counter electrode containing 75% graphene oxide achieved 2.1468% efficiency, surpassing those with platinum‐based DSSCs.