Carbon materials are effective substitutes for Pt counter electrodes(CEs) in dye-sensitized solar cells(DSSCs). However, many of these materials, such as carbon nanotubes and graphene, are expensive and require comple...Carbon materials are effective substitutes for Pt counter electrodes(CEs) in dye-sensitized solar cells(DSSCs). However, many of these materials, such as carbon nanotubes and graphene, are expensive and require complex preparation process. Herein, waste lignin, recycled from hazardous black liquors,is used to create oxygen-nitrogen-sulfur codoped carbon microspheres for use in DSSC CEs through the facile process of low-temperature preoxidation and high-temperature self-activation. The large number of ester bonds formed by preoxidation increase the degree of cross-linking of the lignin chains, leading to the formation of highly disordered carbon with ample defect sites during pyrolysis. The presence of organic O/N/S components in the waste lignin results in high O/N/S doping of the pyrolysed carbon,which increases the electrolyte ion adsorption and accelerates the electron transfer at the CE/electrolyte interface, as confirmed by density functional theory(DFT) calculations. The presence of inorganic impurities enables the construction of a hierarchical micropore-rich carbon structure through the etching effect during self-activation, which can provide abundant catalytically active sites for the reversible adsorption/desorption of electrolyte ions. Under these synergistic effects, the DSSCs that use this novel carbon CE achieve a quite high power-conversion efficiency of 9.22%. To the best of our knowledge, the value is a new record reported so far for biomass-carbon-based DSSCs.展开更多
The aligned hexagonal cadmium sulfide nanorods (CdSNR) have been synthe-sized by hydrothermal technique at 200ºC on fluorine tin oxide (FTO) sub-strates. Dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) based on the photoel...The aligned hexagonal cadmium sulfide nanorods (CdSNR) have been synthe-sized by hydrothermal technique at 200ºC on fluorine tin oxide (FTO) sub-strates. Dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) based on the photoelectrode core-shell CdSNR array with conductive polymers nanocomposite of polyaniline (PANI) and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxyl-thiophene)/poly(styrene-sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) were fabricated and designed with different types of dye molecules. DSSCs were characterized utilizing scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Raman scattering, energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and photocurrent-voltage (J-V) characteristic. Results show that under illumination (AM 1.5 G), the high power conversion energy (PCE) was achieved for CdSNR/PANI-PEDOT:PSS device when it sensitized with ruthenium (II) (dye N-719) of 0.91% and a short circuit current density (Jsc) of 4.21 mA/cm2 in comparison with the other devices, which sensitized with natural dyes. The high performance of the CdSNR/PANI-PEDOT:PSS-N719 device attributed to the wide range of absorption and photostability for N719. This work shows that the CdSNR with N719 can be appropriate candidate for photovoltaics device for their low cost fabrication procedure and excellent absorption.展开更多
A series of guanidinium ionic liquids(GILs) was designed, synthesized, and used as electrolytes for dye-sensitized solar cells(DSSCs). The effect of electrolytes containing GILs on the photovoltaic performance of ...A series of guanidinium ionic liquids(GILs) was designed, synthesized, and used as electrolytes for dye-sensitized solar cells(DSSCs). The effect of electrolytes containing GILs on the photovoltaic performance of DSSCs was investigated. It is demonstrated that these GILs are promising for being used as electrolytes for DSSCs and a conversion efficiency of 4.1% can be obtained under AM 1.5 sun light irradiation.展开更多
Herein, we report the design and synthesis of three new D-A type metal-free carbazole based dyes(S1-3)as effective co-sensitizers for dye-sensitized solar cell(DSSC) sensitized with Ru(Ⅱ) complex(NCSU-10).In ...Herein, we report the design and synthesis of three new D-A type metal-free carbazole based dyes(S1-3)as effective co-sensitizers for dye-sensitized solar cell(DSSC) sensitized with Ru(Ⅱ) complex(NCSU-10).In this new design, the electron rich carbazole unit was attached to three different electron withdrawing/anchoring species, viz. 4-amino benzoic acid, sulfanilic acid and barbituric acid. The dyes were characterized by spectral, photophysical and electrochemical analysis. Their optical and electrochemical parameters along with molecular geometries, optimized from DFT have been employed to apprehend the effect of the structures of these co-sensitizers on the photovoltaic performances. Further, S1-3 dyes were co-sensitized along with a well-known NCSU-10 dye in order to broaden the spectral response of the co-sensitized devices and hence improve the efficiency. The photovoltaic performance studies indicated that, the device fabricated using S1 dye as co-sensitizer with 0.2 mM of NCSU-10 exhibited improved PCE of 9.55% with JSC of 22.85 mA cm-2, VOC of 0.672 V and FF of 62.2%, whereas the DSSC fabricated with dye NCSU-10(0.2 mM) alone displayed PCE of 8.25% with JSC of 20.41 mA cm-2, VOC of 0.667 V and FF of 60.6%. Furthermore, electronic excitations simulated using time-dependent DFT, were in good agreement with the experimentally obtained results of the co-sensitizers, indicating that the exchange-correlation function and basis set utilized for predicting the spectra of the co-sensitizers are quite appropriate for the calculations. In conclusion, the results showed the potential of simple organic co-sensitizers in the development of efficient DSSCs.展开更多
ZnO nanowires(ZnO NWs),ZnO nanoparticles(ZnO NPs)and carbon dots(C-dots)were synthesized by hydrothermal,sol-gel and hydrothermal methods respectively.They were also characterized and applied for dye sensitized solar ...ZnO nanowires(ZnO NWs),ZnO nanoparticles(ZnO NPs)and carbon dots(C-dots)were synthesized by hydrothermal,sol-gel and hydrothermal methods respectively.They were also characterized and applied for dye sensitized solar cells(DSSCs).The effects of C-dots on ZnO NWs and ZnO NPs have been evaluated.The C-dots were used at a mole ratio of citric acid(CA)to ethylene diamine(EDA)of 1:1.5.These C-dots were found to enhance the performance of the flexible electrode DSSCs.After the addition of C-dots,the power conversion efficiency(PCE)of ZnO NPs was boosted to be two times higher than that of ZnO NPs DSSCs without C-dots.Similarly,the ultraviolet(UV)-band revealed a blue shift,resulting in a lower band gap and a reduced charge transfer resistance,which can enhance the PCE of DSSCs.The loaded quantity on the flexible electrode substrate made of polyethylene terephthalate(PET)was optimized(50 mg).For DSSCs,the PET flexible electrode conductive polymer has produced positive outcomes.For ZnO NWs and ZnO NWs@C-dots,the PCE values were 1.45%and 4.25%;while for ZnO NPs and ZnO NPs@C-dots,they were 2.34%and 5.81%,respectively.This work achieved remarkable and competitive performance when compared to solid(indium tin oxides/glass)-based substrate.展开更多
Different precursors were prepared via a simple low heat solid state reaction(LHSSR) upon changing the ligands. The ZnO photoanode films were obtained by the doctor blade technique, and their composition, thermal de...Different precursors were prepared via a simple low heat solid state reaction(LHSSR) upon changing the ligands. The ZnO photoanode films were obtained by the doctor blade technique, and their composition, thermal decomposition process and morphologies were identified by means of X-ray diffraction(XRD), thermal gravimetric analysis-differential thermal analysis(TGA-SDTA) and scanning electron microscope(SEM). The results show that the morphologies of ZnO photoanodes are irregular block, regular lamellar and irregular sheet-cluster, and the multistage structure can be found in all the photoanodes. Furthermore, there exists a genetic effect of morphology between the precursors and the corresponding photoanodes. The optimum power conversion efficiency of the sheet-cluster ZnO photoanode was 3.12% with the short circuit current density(dsc) being 11.23 mA/cm2. The multistage sheet-cluster structure could result in the increase of the scattering of the incident light and provide a rapid electronic transmission channel to reduce the risk of electronic recombination. A beneficial enlightenment was obtained to simplify the process and the photoanode films with various morphologies can be prepared with lower price in the further research.展开更多
文章通过Stober法合成粒径为300 nm的SiO_(2)纳米球,将该纳米球以乙醇为溶剂配置成一定浓度的悬浮液,通过旋涂法使其在染料敏化太阳能电池(dye-sensitized solar cells,DSSCs)的光阳极P25上形成一层薄膜,再将形成的P25-SiO_(2)复合膜放...文章通过Stober法合成粒径为300 nm的SiO_(2)纳米球,将该纳米球以乙醇为溶剂配置成一定浓度的悬浮液,通过旋涂法使其在染料敏化太阳能电池(dye-sensitized solar cells,DSSCs)的光阳极P25上形成一层薄膜,再将形成的P25-SiO_(2)复合膜放入TiO_(2)溶胶中浸泡一定时间,使得光阳极上的SiO_(2)纳米球被TiO_(2)纳米粒子包裹,形成SiO_(2)-TiO_(2)核壳结构薄膜。与没有散射层的DSSCs相比,以该核壳结构薄膜作为DSSCs的光散射层电池的光电转换效率提高了18%。展开更多
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31890771 and 31901249)the Young Elite Scientists Sponsorship Program by CAST (2019QNRC001)+3 种基金the Hunan Provincial Technical Innovation Platform and Talent Program in Science and Technology (2020RC3041)the Training Program for Excellent Young Innovators of Changsha (kq2106056)the Hunan Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (2022JJ30079)the Postgraduate Technology Innovation Project of Central South University of Forestry and Technology (2022CX02017)。
文摘Carbon materials are effective substitutes for Pt counter electrodes(CEs) in dye-sensitized solar cells(DSSCs). However, many of these materials, such as carbon nanotubes and graphene, are expensive and require complex preparation process. Herein, waste lignin, recycled from hazardous black liquors,is used to create oxygen-nitrogen-sulfur codoped carbon microspheres for use in DSSC CEs through the facile process of low-temperature preoxidation and high-temperature self-activation. The large number of ester bonds formed by preoxidation increase the degree of cross-linking of the lignin chains, leading to the formation of highly disordered carbon with ample defect sites during pyrolysis. The presence of organic O/N/S components in the waste lignin results in high O/N/S doping of the pyrolysed carbon,which increases the electrolyte ion adsorption and accelerates the electron transfer at the CE/electrolyte interface, as confirmed by density functional theory(DFT) calculations. The presence of inorganic impurities enables the construction of a hierarchical micropore-rich carbon structure through the etching effect during self-activation, which can provide abundant catalytically active sites for the reversible adsorption/desorption of electrolyte ions. Under these synergistic effects, the DSSCs that use this novel carbon CE achieve a quite high power-conversion efficiency of 9.22%. To the best of our knowledge, the value is a new record reported so far for biomass-carbon-based DSSCs.
文摘The aligned hexagonal cadmium sulfide nanorods (CdSNR) have been synthe-sized by hydrothermal technique at 200ºC on fluorine tin oxide (FTO) sub-strates. Dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) based on the photoelectrode core-shell CdSNR array with conductive polymers nanocomposite of polyaniline (PANI) and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxyl-thiophene)/poly(styrene-sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) were fabricated and designed with different types of dye molecules. DSSCs were characterized utilizing scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Raman scattering, energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and photocurrent-voltage (J-V) characteristic. Results show that under illumination (AM 1.5 G), the high power conversion energy (PCE) was achieved for CdSNR/PANI-PEDOT:PSS device when it sensitized with ruthenium (II) (dye N-719) of 0.91% and a short circuit current density (Jsc) of 4.21 mA/cm2 in comparison with the other devices, which sensitized with natural dyes. The high performance of the CdSNR/PANI-PEDOT:PSS-N719 device attributed to the wide range of absorption and photostability for N719. This work shows that the CdSNR with N719 can be appropriate candidate for photovoltaics device for their low cost fabrication procedure and excellent absorption.
文摘A series of guanidinium ionic liquids(GILs) was designed, synthesized, and used as electrolytes for dye-sensitized solar cells(DSSCs). The effect of electrolytes containing GILs on the photovoltaic performance of DSSCs was investigated. It is demonstrated that these GILs are promising for being used as electrolytes for DSSCs and a conversion efficiency of 4.1% can be obtained under AM 1.5 sun light irradiation.
基金Department of Textile Engineering, Chemistry and Science at North Carolina State University for the financial support
文摘Herein, we report the design and synthesis of three new D-A type metal-free carbazole based dyes(S1-3)as effective co-sensitizers for dye-sensitized solar cell(DSSC) sensitized with Ru(Ⅱ) complex(NCSU-10).In this new design, the electron rich carbazole unit was attached to three different electron withdrawing/anchoring species, viz. 4-amino benzoic acid, sulfanilic acid and barbituric acid. The dyes were characterized by spectral, photophysical and electrochemical analysis. Their optical and electrochemical parameters along with molecular geometries, optimized from DFT have been employed to apprehend the effect of the structures of these co-sensitizers on the photovoltaic performances. Further, S1-3 dyes were co-sensitized along with a well-known NCSU-10 dye in order to broaden the spectral response of the co-sensitized devices and hence improve the efficiency. The photovoltaic performance studies indicated that, the device fabricated using S1 dye as co-sensitizer with 0.2 mM of NCSU-10 exhibited improved PCE of 9.55% with JSC of 22.85 mA cm-2, VOC of 0.672 V and FF of 62.2%, whereas the DSSC fabricated with dye NCSU-10(0.2 mM) alone displayed PCE of 8.25% with JSC of 20.41 mA cm-2, VOC of 0.667 V and FF of 60.6%. Furthermore, electronic excitations simulated using time-dependent DFT, were in good agreement with the experimentally obtained results of the co-sensitizers, indicating that the exchange-correlation function and basis set utilized for predicting the spectra of the co-sensitizers are quite appropriate for the calculations. In conclusion, the results showed the potential of simple organic co-sensitizers in the development of efficient DSSCs.
文摘ZnO nanowires(ZnO NWs),ZnO nanoparticles(ZnO NPs)and carbon dots(C-dots)were synthesized by hydrothermal,sol-gel and hydrothermal methods respectively.They were also characterized and applied for dye sensitized solar cells(DSSCs).The effects of C-dots on ZnO NWs and ZnO NPs have been evaluated.The C-dots were used at a mole ratio of citric acid(CA)to ethylene diamine(EDA)of 1:1.5.These C-dots were found to enhance the performance of the flexible electrode DSSCs.After the addition of C-dots,the power conversion efficiency(PCE)of ZnO NPs was boosted to be two times higher than that of ZnO NPs DSSCs without C-dots.Similarly,the ultraviolet(UV)-band revealed a blue shift,resulting in a lower band gap and a reduced charge transfer resistance,which can enhance the PCE of DSSCs.The loaded quantity on the flexible electrode substrate made of polyethylene terephthalate(PET)was optimized(50 mg).For DSSCs,the PET flexible electrode conductive polymer has produced positive outcomes.For ZnO NWs and ZnO NWs@C-dots,the PCE values were 1.45%and 4.25%;while for ZnO NPs and ZnO NPs@C-dots,they were 2.34%and 5.81%,respectively.This work achieved remarkable and competitive performance when compared to solid(indium tin oxides/glass)-based substrate.
文摘Different precursors were prepared via a simple low heat solid state reaction(LHSSR) upon changing the ligands. The ZnO photoanode films were obtained by the doctor blade technique, and their composition, thermal decomposition process and morphologies were identified by means of X-ray diffraction(XRD), thermal gravimetric analysis-differential thermal analysis(TGA-SDTA) and scanning electron microscope(SEM). The results show that the morphologies of ZnO photoanodes are irregular block, regular lamellar and irregular sheet-cluster, and the multistage structure can be found in all the photoanodes. Furthermore, there exists a genetic effect of morphology between the precursors and the corresponding photoanodes. The optimum power conversion efficiency of the sheet-cluster ZnO photoanode was 3.12% with the short circuit current density(dsc) being 11.23 mA/cm2. The multistage sheet-cluster structure could result in the increase of the scattering of the incident light and provide a rapid electronic transmission channel to reduce the risk of electronic recombination. A beneficial enlightenment was obtained to simplify the process and the photoanode films with various morphologies can be prepared with lower price in the further research.
文摘文章通过Stober法合成粒径为300 nm的SiO_(2)纳米球,将该纳米球以乙醇为溶剂配置成一定浓度的悬浮液,通过旋涂法使其在染料敏化太阳能电池(dye-sensitized solar cells,DSSCs)的光阳极P25上形成一层薄膜,再将形成的P25-SiO_(2)复合膜放入TiO_(2)溶胶中浸泡一定时间,使得光阳极上的SiO_(2)纳米球被TiO_(2)纳米粒子包裹,形成SiO_(2)-TiO_(2)核壳结构薄膜。与没有散射层的DSSCs相比,以该核壳结构薄膜作为DSSCs的光散射层电池的光电转换效率提高了18%。