Effect of carbonization temperature on the electrocatalytic property and efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells derived from corncob and sugarcane leaf agricultural residues

Abstract

Corncob residues (CC) and sugarcane leaves (SL) are globally abundant agricultural residues. Thus, they are interesting materials for use in energy production. They were turned into carbon powders by carbonization at temperatures of 500–1100 °C under an argon atmosphere. These carbon powders were merged with a conductive polymer and covered on fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) glass substrates with a doctor blade for use as counter electrodes (CEs) of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Raman spectroscopy and SEM were utilized to study the chemical composition and surface configuration of the counter electrodes. The trend of electrical conductivity and electrochemical catalytic activity improves resulting from the elevated carbonization temperature. Corncobs carbonized at 1100 °C mixed in a poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS, PP) (CC-PP 1100) sample provided the highest energy conversion efficiency, 5.85 ± 0.87%, against a platinum (Pt) CE (5.43 ± 0.48%) and exhibited the highest redox reaction. This is a result of the low resistivity and excellent catalytic activity of the CC-PP 1100 electrode. Moreover, this research provided the evidence of relationship between electrical conductivity and DSSC efficiency for the first time. Graphical abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.].