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Maruccia E, Galliano S, Schiavo E, Garino N, Segura Zarate AY, Muñoz-García AB, Pavone M, Gerbaldi C, Barolo C, Cauda V, Bella F. Exploring zinc oxide morphologies for aqueous solar cells by a photoelectrochemical, computational, and multivariate approach. ENERGY ADVANCES 2024; 3:1062-1072. [PMID: 38766406 PMCID: PMC11097750 DOI: 10.1039/d4ya00010b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2024] [Accepted: 04/26/2024] [Indexed: 05/22/2024]
Abstract
Dye-sensitized solar cells assembled with aqueous electrolytes are emerging as a sustainable photovoltaic technology suitable for safe indoor and portable electronics use. While the scientific community is exploring unconventional materials for preparing electrodes and electrolytes, this work presents the first study on zinc oxide as a semiconductor material to fabricate photoanodes for aqueous solar cells. Different morphologies (i.e., nanoparticles, multipods, and desert roses) are synthesized, characterized, and tested in laboratory-scale prototypes. This exploratory work, also integrated by a computational study and a multivariate investigation on the factors that influence electrode sensitization, confirms the possibility of using zinc oxide in the field of aqueous photovoltaics and opens the way to new morphologies and processes of functionalization or surface activation to boost the overall cell efficiency.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elisa Maruccia
- Department of Applied Science and Technology, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24 10129 - Torino Italy
| | - Simone Galliano
- Department of Chemistry, NIS Interdepartmental Centre and INSTM Reference Centre, Università degli Studi di Torino, Via Pietro Giuria 7 10125 - Torino Italy
| | - Eduardo Schiavo
- Department of Chemical Sciences, Università di Napoli Federico II, Comp. Univ. Monte Sant'Angelo, Via Cintia 21 80126 - Napoli Italy
| | - Nadia Garino
- Department of Applied Science and Technology, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24 10129 - Torino Italy
| | - Ana Y Segura Zarate
- Department of Chemistry, NIS Interdepartmental Centre and INSTM Reference Centre, Università degli Studi di Torino, Via Pietro Giuria 7 10125 - Torino Italy
- Escuela de Física, Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica, TEC 159-7050 - Cartago Costa Rica
| | - Ana B Muñoz-García
- Department of Physics "Ettore Pancini", Università di Napoli Federico II, Comp. Univ. Monte Sant'Angelo, Via Cintia 21 80126 - Napoli Italy
| | - Michele Pavone
- Department of Chemical Sciences, Università di Napoli Federico II, Comp. Univ. Monte Sant'Angelo, Via Cintia 21 80126 - Napoli Italy
| | - Claudio Gerbaldi
- Department of Applied Science and Technology, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24 10129 - Torino Italy
| | - Claudia Barolo
- Department of Chemistry, NIS Interdepartmental Centre and INSTM Reference Centre, Università degli Studi di Torino, Via Pietro Giuria 7 10125 - Torino Italy
- ICxT Interdepartmental Centre, Università degli Studi di Torino, Via Lungo Dora Siena 100 10153 - Torino Italy
- Istituto di Scienza, Tecnologia e Sostenibilità per lo Sviluppo dei Materiali Ceramici (ISSMC-CNR), Via Granarolo 64 48018 - Faenza Italy
| | - Valentina Cauda
- Department of Applied Science and Technology, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24 10129 - Torino Italy
| | - Federico Bella
- Department of Applied Science and Technology, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24 10129 - Torino Italy
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Green synthesis of biologically important 2-aminothiophenes by the mediation of ZnO@SiO2–NH2 nanoparticle as an important anti-liver cancer alternative for valproate. CHEMICAL PAPERS 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s11696-021-01509-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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