Quasi-Solid-State SiO2 Electrolyte Prepared from Raw Fly Ash for Enhanced Solar Energy Conversion |
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Authors: | Gyo Hun Choi Jaehyeong Park Sungjun Bae Jung Tae Park |
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Affiliation: | 1.Department of Chemical Engineering, Konkuk University, 120 Neungdong-ro, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul 05029, Korea;2.Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Konkuk Univesity, 120 Neungdong-ro, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul 05029, Korea;3.Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Institute of Construction and Environmental Engineering, Seoul National University, Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 08826, Korea |
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Abstract: | Quasi-solid-state electrolytes in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) prevent solvent leakage or evaporation and stability issues that conventional electrolytes cannot; however, there are no known reports that use such an electrolyte based on fly ash SiO2 (FA_SiO2) from raw fly ash (RFA) for solar energy conversion applications. Hence, in this study, quasi-solid-state electrolytes based on FA_SiO2 are prepared from RFA and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) for solar energy conversion. The structural, morphological, chemical, and electrochemical properties of the DSSCs using this electrolyte are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), high-resolution field-emission scanning electron microscopy (HR-FESEM), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and incident photon-to-electron conversion efficiency (IPCE) measurements. The DSSCs based on the quasi-solid-state electrolyte (SiO2) show a cell efficiency of 5.5%, which is higher than those of nanogel electrolytes (5.0%). The enhancement of the cell efficiency is primarily due to the increase in the open circuit voltage and fill factor caused by the reduced electron recombination and improved electron transfer properties. The findings confirm that the RFA-based quasi-solid-state (SiO2) electrolyte is an alternative to conventional liquid-state electrolytes, making this approach among the most promising strategies for use in low-cost solar energy conversion devices. |
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Keywords: | raw fly ash SiO2 quasi-solid-state electrolyte solar energy conversion dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) |
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