Food waste derived tri-doped carbon as Pt-free counter electrode in dye-
sensitized solar cells
Miras Kazaliyev 1 , Ainura Aukenova 1 , Dias Mustazheb 1 , Bakhytzhan Baptayev 2,3 ,
Mannix Balanay 1*
1
Department of Chemistry, School of Science and Technology, Nazarbayev University,
Astana, Kazakhstan
2
National Laboratory Astana, Astana, Kazakhstan
3
School of Engineering, Nazarbayev University, Astana, Kazakhstan
* Emails: [email protected], [email protected]
Abstract
Costly Pt counter electrode is one of the obstacles for rapid commercialization of dye-sensitized
solar cells. In this research, tri-doped carbon were prepared via solvothermal synthesis. Nickel
metal was presented in different concentrations and food waste was used as a precursor for
carbon with ethylenediamine and sulfur powder as additives. This newly prepared counter
electrode shows a competitive performance with the Pt electrode. Namely counter electrodes
with Ni/carbon dot (0.25:1) showed efficiency of 3.68%, whereas standard cells with Pt show
3.98%. This work demonstrates the natural derived carbon could be a substrate for a cost-
effective approach to prepare multi-functional materials for photovoltaic applications.
Platinum
OR
Food waste
References
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