Hydrogen peroxide assisted synthesis of fluorescent carbon nanoparticles from teak leaves for dye-sensitized solar cells

Abstract

Fluorescent carbon nanoparticles (FCNs) have emerged as promising sensitizers for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) owing to their unique optical properties and low-cost fabrication. In this study, we synthesized three different types of FCNs, such as hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-assisted FCNs (FCNH), hydrothermal-assisted FCNs (FCNA), and pyrolysis-assisted (FCNP). Among them, FCNH-based DSSCs exhibited superior fluorescence properties, indicating effective surface oxidation by H2O2. Then we fabricated DSSCs using FCNP, FCNA, and FCNH as sensitizers and evaluated their photovoltaic activity. The results revealed that FCNH-based DSSCs exhibited superior performance compared to FCNP-based and FCNA-based DSSCs with an open circuit voltage (VOC) of 0.43 V, a short circuit current (ISC) of 0.52 mA, and a fill factor (FF) of 0.45. The superior performance of FCNH-based DSSCs can be attributed to the improved charge transfer and fluorescence properties of the FCNs after surface oxidation with H2O2. These findings emphasize the significance of surface oxidation in optimizing the performance of FCNs in DSSCs and suggest the potentiality of FCNH as an efficient sensitizer in renewable energy as well as energy harvesting applications for wearable platforms.