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Design and fabrication of BaSnO3/RGO as efficient Pt-free counter electrode for dye-sensitized solar cells

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Abstract

BaSnO3 (BSO) could be becoming an important next-generation electron transport material in semiconductor technology due to its abnormal electrical properties even at room temperature. In this study, the reduced graphene oxide (RGO) in the BSO hybrid composites via the facile hydrothermal method reported new cost-effective platinum-free counter-electrodes (CEs) in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The CEs were formed using the nanocomposites with the help of a pipette using a doctor blade technique. The efficiency of this nanocomposite revealed significant electrocatalytic properties upon falling the tri-iodide, possessing to synergistic effect of BSO nanoparticles and improved conductivity when BSO dispersed on RGO sheet. Therefore, the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of prepared BSO/RGO nanocomposite CE attained of (8.8 ± 0.01%) in DSSCs which is higher ha that of commercial Pt CE (6.28 ± 0.04%) as a reference. BSO/RGO nanocomposite CEs give more stable catalytic activities for tri-iodide reduction than BSO and RGO CEs in the cyclic voltammetry (CV) analysis. Furthermore, to the subsistence of RGO, the nanocomposite acquired both higher stability and efficiency in the nanocomposite.

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Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The author from KKU would like to express his appreciation to the Deanship of Scientific Research at King Khalid University for the financial support through the research groups program under Grant No. R.G.P.2/508/44.

Funding

Deanship of Scientific Research, King Khalid University, through the research groups program under Grant No. R.G.P.2/508/44.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Periyar University, Salem, 636 011, India

    Arunkumar Ammasi & Anbarasan Ponnusamy Munusamy

  2. Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, King Khalid University, P.O. Box 9004, Abha, 61413, Saudi Arabia

    Mohd Shkir

  3. Research Center for Advanced Materials Science (RCAMS), King Khalid University, Abha, 61413, Saudi Arabia

    Mohd Shkir

  4. Department of Physics, Saveetha School of Engineering, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, 602 105, India

    Balasubramani Vellingiri

  5. School of Chemical Engineering, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan, 38541, Republic of Korea

    Vasudeva Reddy Minnam Reddy & Woo Kyoung Kim

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  1. Arunkumar Ammasi
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Contributions

AA and PMA contributed to conceptualization and writing (original draft) of the manuscript. MS, VB, VRMR, and WKK contributed to data curation, formal analysis, and comparison of PL intensities and XPS characteristics peaks in sequential manner.

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Correspondence to Arunkumar Ammasi, Anbarasan Ponnusamy Munusamy or Vasudeva Reddy Minnam Reddy.

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Ammasi, A., Munusamy, A.P., Shkir, M. et al. Design and fabrication of BaSnO3/RGO as efficient Pt-free counter electrode for dye-sensitized solar cells. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 34, 2168 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-023-11540-1

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