Invertis Journals of Renewable Energy

Laxmi J. Tomar ¹, Piyush J. Bhatt ¹, Rahul K. Desai ¹, C. J. Panchal ¹, Bishwajit S. Chakrabarty ¹

Affiliations
1 Applied Physics Department, The M.S. University of Baroda, Vadodara, IN

Abstract

Al and Mg doped TiO₂-ZrO₂ semiconducting nanopowder samples were prepared for dye sensitized solar cell application. The structural properties were examined by X-ray diffraction. The results revealed that TiO₂ exists in two different phases Anatase and Rutile whereas ZrO₂ exists in Monoclinic and Tetragonal phases. The average crystallite size for Al and Mg doped samples was found to be 8.16 nm and 6.90 nm respectively. The optical properties were evaluated by UV-Visible spectroscopy. Both the Al and Mg doped TiO₂-ZrO₂ nanocomposites show optical absorption in UV region. The optical bandgap was found to be 2.96 eV and 3.34 eV for Al and Mg doped TiO₂-ZrO₂ nanocomposites respectively. Dye-sensitized solar cell was fabricated using Al and Mg doped TiO₂-ZrO₂ nanocomposite as conducting material and pomegranate juice as sensitizer. The I-V characteristics were recorded to measure photo response of DSSC. Photovoltaic parameters like open circuit voltage, power conversion efficiency, and fill factor were evaluated for the fabricated solar cell. The power conversion efficiency of DSSC fabricated with Al and Mg doped TiO₂-ZrO₂ nanocomposites was found to be 3.88% and 2.15% respectively.

Keywords

Hydrothermal Method, Nanocomposites, Dye Sensitized Solarcell.

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Rahul K. Desai ¹, Laxmi J. Tomar ¹, Bishwajit S. Chakrabarty ¹

Affiliations
1 Department of Applied Physics, The M. S. University of Baroda, Vadodara, IN

Abstract

India is an agrarian country. Agricultural industries in India are developing rapidly and agricultural residues such as wheat husk, rice husks, paddy straws, sugarcane waste and other grain husks remain in abundant. Only 10% of these residues are being utilized and rest are disposed of. These residues contain a considerable amount of cellulose, fibres and lignin content. Substrates play vital role in Dye Sensitized Solar Cells. In DSSC's the substrates presently used are ITO and FTO which are very costly. Developing Organic substrates from waste residues of agriculture industry would not only be a cost effective but also eco-friendly. More over substrates fabricated form these materials would be flexible. These materials would be biodegradable and can be suitably inclined using proper methods. The purpose of this work was to use cellulose rich residues to process material for solar cell substrates. Agricultural remnant of Wheat, Rice and Sorghum were taken as raw materials. These materials were alkali treated and subjected to acid. The acid treatment hydrolyzed the hemicelluloses and pectin by breaking down the polysaccharides to simple sugars and hence released the cellulose? bres. The extracted pulp was frozen and crushed. The chemi-mechanical treatment resulted in nano scale fibres. The enhanced crystallinity of the fibres was determined using XRD. The composition of the treated material was studied using FTIR studies.

Keywords

Substrates, Cellulose, DSSC, FTIR, XRD.

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