Comparison Study of Metal Oxides (CeO2, CuO, SnO2, CdO, ZnO and TiO2) Decked Few Layered Graphene Nanocomposites for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

Abstract

Recent research is focused on few layered graphene (FLG) with various metal oxides (MOs) as (MOs; CeO2, CuO, SnO2, CdO, ZnO, and TiO2) nanocomposite materials are alternatives to critically important in the fabrication of solar cell devices. In this work, FLG with different MOs nanocomposites were prepared by a novel eco-friendly viable ultrasonic assisted route (UAR). The prepared FLG/MO nanocomposites were performed with various characterization techniques. The crystal and phase compositional were carried out through using X-ray diffraction technique. Surface morphological studies by field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM). Spectroscopic methods were done by Raman and UV-Vis Diffuse reflectance spectra (UV-DRS). The prepared FLG/MO nanocomposites materials are used as a photoanode, in the fabrication of dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Compared to TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) and other FLG/MO nanocomposites, FLG/TiO2 nanocomposites exhibit superior photovoltaic properties. The obtained results indicate that FLG/TiO2 nanocomposites significantly improves the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of DSSCs. The photovoltaic analyses were performed in a solar simulator with an air mass (AM) of 1.5 G, power density of 100 m W/m2, and current density-voltage (J-V) was investigated using N719 dye.

Metal Oxides Nanoparticles: General Structural Description, Chemical, Physical, and Biological Synthesis Methods, Role in Pesticides and Heavy Metal Removal through Wastewater Treatment

“…Many metallic elements tend to react with oxygen under numerous conditions to form metal oxides with various structural forms [ 26 ]. Metal oxides with sizes in the nano scale range showed essential applications, such as fluorescence and optical sensors [ 27 , 28 ], catalysts [ 29 , 30 ], photovoltaic [ 31 ] and biomedicine [ 32 ], etc. Besides all these applications, nanomaterials have also been used like gas sensors [ 33 ] and anode materials for fuel cells [ 34 ].…”

Green synthesis of tungsten oxide (WO 3 ) nanosheets and investigation of their photocatalytic and cytotoxicity effects

“…Photocatalysis is a new method for the treatment of air and water pollutants [10,11]. For many years, the process of photocatalysts has been considered a solution for environmental obstacles throughout industrialised countries due to its beneficial features such as anti-pollution, purifying, antimicrobial [12][13][14], self-cleaning etc. Currently, the exertion of novel and envi-ronmentally friendly synthesising methods for the preparation of nanomaterials led to a widespread focus on the participation of "green chemistry" in nanoscience and nanotechnology [15][16][17][18].…”

Controlled morphological synthesis of temperature-dependent CuO nanostructures and their effect on photocatalytic performance

“…As a promising material, copper oxide (CuO), an important p-type semiconductor with a narrow band-gap of 1.4 eV, has many excellent characteristics, such as that it is an abundant resource, non-toxic, and can be easily prepared in diverse shapes of nano-sized dimensions. In recent years, increasingly more studies have focused on the applications of CuO in photocatalysis, most of which have focused on its role as a sensitizer in composite photocatalysts, such as CuO/TiO 2 [12,13], CuO/SnO 2 [14], CuO/ZnO [15], CuO/SiO 2 [16], and CuO/zeolite [17] rather than its use as an independent photocatalyst. Moreover, even though there have been a few reports on the use of CuO as an independent photocatalyst since 2008, most only focused on the light absorption (table 1), and did not study the effect of the morphology and structure of CuO on the optical, electrical and catalytic properties [18][19][20].…”