title: Extraction of nano-silicon with activated carbons simultaneously from rice husk and their synergistic catalytic effect in counter electrodes of dye-sensitized solar cells.
abstract: The extraction of renewable energy resources particularly from earth abundant materials has always been a matter of significance in industrial products. Herein, we report a novel simultaneous extraction of nano-silicon with activated carbons (nano-Si@ACs) from rice husk (RH) by chemical activation method. As-extracted nano-Si@ACs is then used as an energy harvesting materials in counter electrodes (CEs) of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The morphology, structure and texture studies confirm the high surface area, abundant active sites and porous structure of nano-Si@ACs. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry analyses reveal that the nano-Si@ACs is highly beneficial for fast I3-reduction and superior electrolyte diffusion capability. The nano-Si@ACs CE based DSSC exhibits enhanced power conversion efficiency of (8.01%) in contrast to pristine Pt CE (7.20%). These favorable results highlight the potential application of RH in low-cost, high-efficiency and Pt-free DSSCs.
authors.affiliation: Center for Nanoscale Characterization &Devices (CNCD), Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics (WNLO) &School of Physics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), Luoyu Road 1037, Wuhan 430074, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Waqar
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ahmad
authors.affiliation: Center for Nanoscale Characterization &Devices (CNCD), Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics (WNLO) &School of Physics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), Luoyu Road 1037, Wuhan 430074, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Majid Raissan Al
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Bahrani
authors.affiliation: Center for Nanoscale Characterization &Devices (CNCD), Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics (WNLO) &School of Physics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), Luoyu Road 1037, Wuhan 430074, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Zhichun
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Center for Nanoscale Characterization &Devices (CNCD), Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics (WNLO) &School of Physics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), Luoyu Road 1037, Wuhan 430074, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Jahangeer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.affiliation: Center for Nanoscale Characterization &Devices (CNCD), Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics (WNLO) &School of Physics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), Luoyu Road 1037, Wuhan 430074, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Wenkui
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Jing
authors.affiliation: Center for Nanoscale Characterization &Devices (CNCD), Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics (WNLO) &School of Physics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), Luoyu Road 1037, Wuhan 430074, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Fan
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Center of Advanced Functional Ceramics (CAFC), Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications (NUPT), Nanjing 210046, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Liang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chu
authors.affiliation: Center for Nanoscale Characterization &Devices (CNCD), Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics (WNLO) &School of Physics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), Luoyu Road 1037, Wuhan 430074, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Nishuang
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Center for Nanoscale Characterization &Devices (CNCD), Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics (WNLO) &School of Physics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), Luoyu Road 1037, Wuhan 430074, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Luying
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Center for Nanoscale Characterization &Devices (CNCD), Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics (WNLO) &School of Physics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), Luoyu Road 1037, Wuhan 430074, P. R. China.|Hubei Collaborative Innovation Center for Advanced Organic Chemical Materials, 368 Youyi Avenue, Wuhan 430062, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Yihua
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gao