Fathy Marwa, Hassan Hossam, Hafez Hoda, Soliman Moataz, Abulfotuh Fuad, Kashyout Abd El Hady B
Electronic Materials Research Department, Advanced Technology and New Materials Research Institute, City of Scientific Research and Technological Applications (SRTA-City), P.O. Box 21934, New Borg El-Arab City, Alexandria 21934, Egypt.
Nanotechnology Dept. Environmental Studies and Research Institute (ESRI), University of Sadat City, Minofiya 32897, Egypt.
ACS Omega. 2022 May 6;7(19):16757-16765. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.2c01455. eCollection 2022 May 17.
Nanocrystalline TiO and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) materials have been synthesized by a simple and low-cost microwave-assisted hydrothermal method and applied in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) as photoactive and metal-free counter electrodes, respectively. Different TiO nanocrystalline materials have been synthesized via the acid hydrolysis sol-gel method, followed by microwave hydrothermal treatment at 210 °C and 300 psi and at different microwave irradiation times (20, 30, 45, and 60 min) instead of the usual hydrothermal time of 12 h. The properties of the produced mesoporous nanocrystalline TiO are investigated in terms of their morphology, crystal structure, optical properties, and surface area behavior using relevant characterization techniques. Maximum specific surface area values ( ) of 97.77 and 100.7 m g are measured for TiO, with the average crystallite sizes of 18.6 and 17.5 nm, at microwave irradiation times of 30 and 45 min, respectively. Different rGO samples have been prepared by the modified Hummers method, followed by microwave-assisted reduction at a temperature of 200 °C and pressure of 300 psi at different microwave irradiation times (3, 17, and 25 min). The physicochemical properties of the different rGO samples in terms of morphology, crystallization, and optical properties are characterized by TEM, XRD, and Raman spectroscopic analysis. The current density of the fabricated DSSCs based on TiO as the photoelectrode and rGO as the counter electrode compared with DSSCs based on Pt as the counter electrode is found to be 11.25 and 9.28 mA cm, respectively. Although the overall power efficiency of the fabricated DSSCs based on rGO as the counter electrode is lower than that based on the Pt electrode, the former still exhibits promising prospects for replacing Pt with low-cost metal-free carbon-based DSSCs.
通过一种简单且低成本的微波辅助水热法合成了纳米晶TiO和还原氧化石墨烯（rGO）材料，并分别将其作为光活性和无金属对电极应用于染料敏化太阳能电池（DSSC）。通过酸水解溶胶 - 凝胶法合成了不同的TiO纳米晶材料，随后在210°C和300 psi下进行微波水热处理，并在不同的微波辐照时间（20、30、45和60分钟）下进行处理，而不是通常的12小时水热时间。使用相关表征技术，从形态、晶体结构、光学性质和表面积行为等方面研究了所制备的介孔纳米晶TiO的性能。在微波辐照时间分别为30分钟和45分钟时，TiO的最大比表面积值分别为97.77和100.7 m²/g，平均晶粒尺寸分别为18.6和17.5 nm。通过改进的Hummers法制备了不同的rGO样品，随后在200°C温度和300 psi压力下在不同的微波辐照时间（3、17和25分钟）下进行微波辅助还原。通过透射电子显微镜（TEM）、X射线衍射（XRD）和拉曼光谱分析对不同rGO样品在形态、结晶和光学性质方面的物理化学性质进行了表征。与以Pt作为对电极的DSSC相比，基于TiO作为光电极和rGO作为对电极制备的DSSC的电流密度分别为11.25和9.28 mA/cm²。尽管基于rGO作为对电极制备的DSSC的整体功率效率低于基于Pt电极的DSSC，但前者在使用低成本无金属碳基DSSC替代Pt方面仍展现出广阔前景。
