Open Conference Systems, International Conference on Electrochemical Energy and Technology

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Carbonized Chicken Eggshell Membranes inlayed CuInS2 nanocrystals with 3D Architectures as efficient counter electrodes for dye-sensitized solar cells
Li Dan Wang

Last modified: 2014-10-08

Abstract


In particle, we use crude biomass chicken eggshell membranes(ESM) as the framework. At first, some stratum corneum of the ESM were removed by 0.5 M hydrochloric acid.  Then the CuInS2/ESM composite materials were synthesized by an easy aqueous soakage technique, incorporating CuInS2 nanoparticles into the plasmogen networks of chicken eggshell membranes(ESM). The composites further transform into a three-dimens ional macroporous carbon film composed of interwoven connected carbon fibers containing around chalcopyrite CuInS2. The carbonized eggshell membrane (CESM) kept the porous structure of the original ESM, which allowed the sustained and stable transport of both electrolyte ions and electrons to the electrode surface, leading to excellent electrochemical performance. The synthesized CuInS2/CESM were characterized using ultraviolet-visible absorption spectra (UV-Vis), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), micro-Raman spectroscopy, high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The influence of CuInS2 in the composite electrode on catalytic performance of  I3-/I-  redox was investigated by cyclic voltammetry. Our results indicate that, CuInS2/CESM counter electrode based DSSC shows a higher energy conversion efficiency. The detailed interfaces of this counter electrodes and DSSCs were analyzed by electrochemical impedance spectroscopic (EIS) measurements for analysis of such higher power conversion efficiency. The present study will be useful for alternative counter electrode for Pt counter electrodes in DSSCs application. We believe that our synthetic method will be helpful for lower cost and higher efficient  photovoltaic technology.

 

 

 

 




Keywords


carbonized eggshell membrane (CESM), CuInS2 nanocrystals, counter electrode (CE), conversion efficiency (η), dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs),

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