Synthesis and characterization of CuO nanofibers, and investigation for its suitability as blocking layer in ZnO NPs based dye sensitized solar cell and as photocatalyst in organic dye degradation

• Published in: Journal of solid state chemistry 2012-02, Vol.186, p.261-267
• Main Authors: Sahay, R., Sundaramurthy, J., Suresh Kumar, P., Thavasi, V., Mhaisalkar, S.G., Ramakrishna, S.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: ALCOHOLS; AMINES; AQUEOUS SOLUTIONS; AZO COMPOUNDS; AZO DYES; Band-gap; CATALYSIS; CHALCOGENIDES; Chemical synthesis methods; Chemistry; COHERENT SCATTERING; Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties; COPPER; COPPER COMPOUNDS; Copper oxide; COPPER OXIDES; Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science; rheology; Crystallites; CURRENT DENSITY; Degradation; DEPLETION LAYER; DIFFRACTION; DIRECT ENERGY CONVERTERS; DISPERSIONS; DSSC; DYES; ELECTRON SPECTROSCOPY; Electrospinning; ELEMENTS; Exact sciences and technology; FOURIER TRANSFORMATION; General and physical chemistry; General, apparatus; HOMOGENEOUS MIXTURES; HYDROXY COMPOUNDS; INDICATORS; INFRARED SPECTRA; INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY; INTEGRAL TRANSFORMATIONS; LAYERS; Low-dimensional structures (superlattices, quantum well structures, multilayers): structure, and nonelectronic properties; Materials science; METALS; Methods of nanofabrication; METHYL ORANGE; MIXTURES; Nanofibers; Nanomaterials; Nanostructure; NANOSTRUCTURES; ORGANIC ACIDS; ORGANIC COMPOUNDS; ORGANIC NITROGEN COMPOUNDS; ORGANIC POLYMERS; ORGANIC SULFUR COMPOUNDS; OXIDES; OXYGEN COMPOUNDS; PHOTOELECTRIC CELLS; PHOTOELECTRON SPECTROSCOPY; PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS; Physics; POLYMERS; POLYVINYLS; PVA; Quantum confinement; SCATTERING; SOLAR CELLS; SOLAR EQUIPMENT; SOLUTIONS; SPECTRA; SPECTROSCOPY; SULFONIC ACIDS; Surface physical chemistry; Surfaces and interfaces; thin films and whiskers (structure and nonelectronic properties); SYNTHESIS; TRANSFORMATIONS; TRANSITION ELEMENT COMPOUNDS; TRANSITION ELEMENTS; X-RAY DIFFRACTION; X-RAY PHOTOELECTRON SPECTROSCOPY; ZINC COMPOUNDS; ZINC OXIDES
• ISSN: 0022-4596; 1095-726X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jssc.2011.12.013

Electrospun copper based composite nanofibers were synthesized using the copper acetate/polyvinyl alcohol/water solution as starting material. Synthesized composite nanofibers were sintered at 500°C to obtain CuO nanofibers. XRD, FTIR and XPS techniques were used to confirm the presence of pure CuO nanostructures. The effect of annealing cycle on the crystalline structure of the CuO nanofibers was analyzed and observed that the decrease in crystallite size with an increase in the dwelling time improved the orientation of the CuO crystallite. The blue-shift in the band-gap energies of CuO nanofibers was observed as a result of quantum confinement from bulk CuO (1.2eV) to one dimensional (1D) nanostructures (∼1.746eV). The catalytic activity of the CuO fibers for the degradation of methyl orange was carried out and as a blocking layer in ZnO based DSSC was fabricated and observed a ∼25% increase in the current density. The study on the suitability of highly crystalline CuO nanofibers as the blocking layer in ZnO based DSSC was demonstrated and fabricated with possible energy applications. [Display omitted] ► CuO nanofibers were successfully synthesized by using electrospinning technique. ► The effect of the dwelling time of the annealing cycle for the formation of the crystallite CuO nanofibers was analyzed. ► A 25% increase in the current density was observed with the application of CuO as blocking layer.