Characteristics of Carbon Pyrolyzed from Table Sugar and Sucrose for Pt-less DSSC Counter Electrode
Platinum is the most effective counter electrode for use in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC). However, as platinum is very expensive, its price impedes its broad use as a DSSC counter electrode. As an alternative, carbon has been used for this purpose. In this study, carbon has been successfully py...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Universitas Indonesia
2018-04-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Technology |
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| Online Access: | http://ijtech.eng.ui.ac.id/article/view/988 |
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| author | Nofrijon Sofyan Muhammad Aga Ridhova Akhmad Herman Yuwono Arief Udhiarto |
| author_facet | Nofrijon Sofyan Muhammad Aga Ridhova Akhmad Herman Yuwono Arief Udhiarto |
| author_sort | Nofrijon Sofyan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Platinum is the most effective counter electrode for use in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC). However, as platinum is very expensive, its price impedes its broad use as a DSSC counter electrode. As an alternative, carbon has been used for this purpose. In this study, carbon has been successfully pyrolyzed from the precursors of table sugar and sucrose through a chemical process, i.e. the dehydration of the precursors with sulfate acid followed by a pyrolysis process, and used as Pt-less counter electrode in a DSSC device. The as-synthesized carbon was characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD) to obtain crystal structure information and a scanning electron microscope (SEM) equipped with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) was employed to carry out morphological and compositional examination. The material activity and performance of the counter electrode in the DSSC device were analyzed using a semiconductor parameter analyzer through current–voltage characteristic curves (I-V). The results show that the precursors of table sugar without the addition of a metal catalyst and with initial heat treatment at 300°C for 1 hour, and of sucrose with a catalyst could produce carbon with a particle size of around 600–900 nm. The I-V curve characteristic of the DSSC device assembled using carbon produced from sucrose as a counter electrode resulted in a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of only 0.041%, whereas the DSSC device assembled using carbon produced from table sugar as a counter electrode exhibited a good performance with a PCE of 3.239%, almost equivalent to that of platinum paste with a PCE of 4.024%. This result is promising in terms of using a cheap source of carbon for the Pt-less counter electrode. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T03:12:20Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0cae2c0bd4164250af36e26dc74c6a49 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2086-9614 2087-2100 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T03:12:20Z |
| publishDate | 2018-04-01 |
| publisher | Universitas Indonesia |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Technology |
| spelling | doaj.art-0cae2c0bd4164250af36e26dc74c6a492023-01-02T11:13:01ZengUniversitas IndonesiaInternational Journal of Technology2086-96142087-21002018-04-019237237910.14716/ijtech.v9i2.988988Characteristics of Carbon Pyrolyzed from Table Sugar and Sucrose for Pt-less DSSC Counter ElectrodeNofrijon Sofyan0Muhammad1Aga Ridhova2Akhmad Herman Yuwono3Arief Udhiarto4Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Faculty of Engineering Universitas Indonesia, IndonesiaUniversitas IndonesiaUniversitas IndonesiaUniversitas IndonesiaUniversitas IndonesiaPlatinum is the most effective counter electrode for use in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC). However, as platinum is very expensive, its price impedes its broad use as a DSSC counter electrode. As an alternative, carbon has been used for this purpose. In this study, carbon has been successfully pyrolyzed from the precursors of table sugar and sucrose through a chemical process, i.e. the dehydration of the precursors with sulfate acid followed by a pyrolysis process, and used as Pt-less counter electrode in a DSSC device. The as-synthesized carbon was characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD) to obtain crystal structure information and a scanning electron microscope (SEM) equipped with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) was employed to carry out morphological and compositional examination. The material activity and performance of the counter electrode in the DSSC device were analyzed using a semiconductor parameter analyzer through current–voltage characteristic curves (I-V). The results show that the precursors of table sugar without the addition of a metal catalyst and with initial heat treatment at 300°C for 1 hour, and of sucrose with a catalyst could produce carbon with a particle size of around 600–900 nm. The I-V curve characteristic of the DSSC device assembled using carbon produced from sucrose as a counter electrode resulted in a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of only 0.041%, whereas the DSSC device assembled using carbon produced from table sugar as a counter electrode exhibited a good performance with a PCE of 3.239%, almost equivalent to that of platinum paste with a PCE of 4.024%. This result is promising in terms of using a cheap source of carbon for the Pt-less counter electrode.http://ijtech.eng.ui.ac.id/article/view/988Dye-sensitized solar cellPower conversion efficiencyPt-less counter electrodeSucroseTable sugar |
| spellingShingle | Nofrijon Sofyan Muhammad Aga Ridhova Akhmad Herman Yuwono Arief Udhiarto Characteristics of Carbon Pyrolyzed from Table Sugar and Sucrose for Pt-less DSSC Counter Electrode International Journal of Technology Dye-sensitized solar cell Power conversion efficiency Pt-less counter electrode Sucrose Table sugar |
| title | Characteristics of Carbon Pyrolyzed from Table Sugar and Sucrose for Pt-less DSSC Counter Electrode |
| title_full | Characteristics of Carbon Pyrolyzed from Table Sugar and Sucrose for Pt-less DSSC Counter Electrode |
| title_fullStr | Characteristics of Carbon Pyrolyzed from Table Sugar and Sucrose for Pt-less DSSC Counter Electrode |
| title_full_unstemmed | Characteristics of Carbon Pyrolyzed from Table Sugar and Sucrose for Pt-less DSSC Counter Electrode |
| title_short | Characteristics of Carbon Pyrolyzed from Table Sugar and Sucrose for Pt-less DSSC Counter Electrode |
| title_sort | characteristics of carbon pyrolyzed from table sugar and sucrose for pt less dssc counter electrode |
| topic | Dye-sensitized solar cell Power conversion efficiency Pt-less counter electrode Sucrose Table sugar |
| url | http://ijtech.eng.ui.ac.id/article/view/988 |
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