Mangosteen peel is an inedible portion of a fruit. We are interested in using these residues as components of a dye sensitized solar cell (DSSC). Carbonized mangosteen peel was used with mangosteen peel dye as a natural counter electrode and a natural photosensitizer, respectively. A distinctive mesoporous honeycomb-like carbon structure with a rough nanoscale surface was found in carbonized mangosteen peels. The efficiency of a dye sensitized solar cell using carbonized mangosteen peel was compared to that of DSSCs with Pt and PEDOT-PSS counter electrodes. The highest solar conversion efficiency (2.63%) was obtained when using carbonized mangosteen peel and an organic disulfide/thiolate (T2/T−) electrolyte.

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A method is presented for the atomic layer deposition (ALD) of palladium using remote hydrogen plasma as the reducing source and agent. Palladium was deposited on iridium, tungsten and silicon at 80 C using a remote inductively coupled hydrogen plasma with palladium(II) hexafluoroacetylacetonate as the precursor. In the case of the Pd film grown on Ir, the carbon and fluorine content were significantly reduced compared to previous thermal ALD results. Use of remote plasma eliminated the noble metal substrate requirement needed for thermal ALD, enabling films to be grown on W and Si. Ultra-thin Pd films grown on W and Si possessed a nearly random texture from reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED) measurements. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) images showed very different surface morphologies for the different substrates suggesting very different substrate film interactions. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements indicate high quality Pd films for all substrates, suggesting the substrate temperature was low enough to prevent dissociation of the hfac ligand and adequate C and F scavenging by the atomic hydrogen. The remote hydrogen plasma source results in the loss of selectivity but growth is evident on every surface used including surfaces that do not react strongly with the Pd precursor and are not catalytic towards the dissociation of molecular hydrogen.

Article:Uppachai, P, Harnchana, V, Pimanpang, S et al. (3 more authors) (2014) A substoichiometric tungsten oxide catalyst provides a sustainable and efficient counter electrode for dye-sensitized solar cells. Electrochimica Acta, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electacta.2014.08.096 eprints@whiterose.ac.uk https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/ Reuse Unless indicated otherwise, fulltext items are protected by copyright with all rights reserved. The copyright exception in section 29 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 allows the making of a single copy solely for the purpose of non-commercial research or private study within the limits of fair dealing. The publisher or other rights-holder may allow further reproduction and re-use of this version -refer to the White Rose Research Online record for this item. Where records identify the publisher as the copyright holder, users can verify any specific terms of use on the publisher's website. TakedownIf you consider content in White Rose Research Online to be in breach of UK law, please notify us by emailing eprints@whiterose.ac.uk including the URL of the record and the reason for the withdrawal request.

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Polypyrrole films were coated on conductive glass by electrochemical deposition (alternative current or direct current process). They were then used as the dye-sensitized solar cell counter electrodes. Scanning electron microscopy revealed that polypyrrole forms a nanoparticle-like structure on the conductive glass. The amount of deposited polypyrrole (or film thickness) increased with the deposition duration, and the performance of polypyrrole based-dye-sensitized solar cells is dependant upon polymer thickness. The highest efficiency of alternative current and direct current polypyrrole based-dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) is 4.72% and 4.02%, respectively. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy suggests that the superior performance of alternative current polypyrrole solar cells is due to their lower charge-transfer resistance between counter electrode and electrolyte. The large charge-transfer resistance of direct current solar cells is attributed to the formation of unbounded polypyrrole chains minimizing theI3 −reduction rate.