Browsing by Author "Priyanka Chawla"

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Development of polymer electrolyte based on graphite/MWNTs fillers for sustainable dye-sensitized solar cell
(Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH, 2022) Kumari Pooja; Anant P. Pandey; Kalpana Awasthi; Mridula Tripathi; Priyanka Chawla
We investigated the use of graphite as primary filler and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) as secondary filler in chitosan-based polymer electrolyte film which aided in increasing the electrical conductivity of the prepared film. The addition of a small amount of MWNTs as secondary filler increased the A.C. conductivity from 2.6 × 10–4 to 1.4 × 10−3 S/cm due to the formation of conductive layers by it. The co-sensitized dye obtained from pomegranate and moss (1:1) is evaluated for the fabrication of dye-sensitized solar cells. In place of nanostructured TiO2-based photoanode, we admixed TiO2 with indium oxide (In2O3) to improve the spectral response of TiO2 for obtaining better efficiency. The use of this polymer electrolyte film along with co-sensitized natural dye and admixed photoanode helped in the fabrication of a highly efficient dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) with around 3.8% efficiency. © 2022, Institute of Chemistry, Slovak Academy of Sciences.
Low cost and efficient counter electrode for solid-state natural dye-sensitized solar cells
(Springer Science and Business Media B.V., 2023) Priyanka Chawla; Anant Prakash Pandey; Kumari Pooja; Mridula Tripathi
Current studies on dye-sensitized solar cells focus on using low cost materials with high efficiency. Platinum is the most desirable material for the counter electrode of dye-sensitized solar cells but it is an expensive material that limits its use. To reduce the cost, carbon-based materials are focused on as it proves to be the best material as far as cost is concerned. We investigated the use of composite paste of multiwall carbon nanotubes and activated carbon based on coconut fiber (1:1) for the preparation of counter electrodes. In place of liquid electrolyte, we have prepared solid polymer electrolyte based on Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) due to its exceptional properties with graphite as filler. The obtained conductivity was found to be 5.63 × 10−3 S cm− 1. Anthocyanin pigment obtained from mulberry is being used as a natural dye. The addition of indium oxide (In2O3) to titanium dioxide (TiO2) increased the spectrum response of TiO2, which led to greater efficiency. The obtained efficiency was found to be 3.3 which is excellent in the case of natural dye-sensitized solar cells. Graphical abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.]. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.