{"title":"Nitrogen/sulfur dual-doped porous carbon microtubes prepared from poplar catkins as high-performance counter electrode of dye-sensitized solar cells","authors":"Jihui Li, Dongsheng Wang, Guiqiang Wang, Fanning Meng","doi":"10.1016/j.jphotochem.2025.116561","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The fabrication of low-cost counter electrode using heteroatom-doped porous carbon derived from renewable biomass is a promising strategy to assemble cost-effective dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs). Here, nitrogen/sulfur dual-doped porous carbon microtubes (NSPCMTs) are prepared by a direct pyrolysis process using poplar catkins as the carbon source and thiourea as the nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S) source. It is found that the as-prepared NSPCMTs inherit the microtube morphology of poplar catkins and the thiourea addition results in the dual-doping of N and S and promotes the pore formation on the wall of carbon microtubes. The obtained NSPCMTs display a specific surface area of 379.55 m<sup>2</sup> g<sup>−1</sup>. The N/S dual-doping and the high surface area enhance the surface accessibility and increase the electrocatalytic active sites of NSPCMTs, which endows NSPCMTs with a superior electrocatalytic performance. Cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements indicates that NSPCMT electrode has the same electrocatalytic activity as conventional Pt electrode. Consequently, the DSC with NSPCMT electrode demonstrates an efficiency of 8.27 %, approaching to the performance of Pt electrode-based cell.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":16782,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology A-chemistry","volume":"469 ","pages":"Article 116561"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1000,"publicationDate":"2025-06-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology A-chemistry","FirstCategoryId":"92","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1010603025003016","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"CHEMISTRY, PHYSICAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The fabrication of low-cost counter electrode using heteroatom-doped porous carbon derived from renewable biomass is a promising strategy to assemble cost-effective dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs). Here, nitrogen/sulfur dual-doped porous carbon microtubes (NSPCMTs) are prepared by a direct pyrolysis process using poplar catkins as the carbon source and thiourea as the nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S) source. It is found that the as-prepared NSPCMTs inherit the microtube morphology of poplar catkins and the thiourea addition results in the dual-doping of N and S and promotes the pore formation on the wall of carbon microtubes. The obtained NSPCMTs display a specific surface area of 379.55 m2 g−1. The N/S dual-doping and the high surface area enhance the surface accessibility and increase the electrocatalytic active sites of NSPCMTs, which endows NSPCMTs with a superior electrocatalytic performance. Cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements indicates that NSPCMT electrode has the same electrocatalytic activity as conventional Pt electrode. Consequently, the DSC with NSPCMT electrode demonstrates an efficiency of 8.27 %, approaching to the performance of Pt electrode-based cell.
期刊介绍:
JPPA publishes the results of fundamental studies on all aspects of chemical phenomena induced by interactions between light and molecules/matter of all kinds.
All systems capable of being described at the molecular or integrated multimolecular level are appropriate for the journal. This includes all molecular chemical species as well as biomolecular, supramolecular, polymer and other macromolecular systems, as well as solid state photochemistry. In addition, the journal publishes studies of semiconductor and other photoactive organic and inorganic materials, photocatalysis (organic, inorganic, supramolecular and superconductor).
The scope includes condensed and gas phase photochemistry, as well as synchrotron radiation chemistry. A broad range of processes and techniques in photochemistry are covered such as light induced energy, electron and proton transfer; nonlinear photochemical behavior; mechanistic investigation of photochemical reactions and identification of the products of photochemical reactions; quantum yield determinations and measurements of rate constants for primary and secondary photochemical processes; steady-state and time-resolved emission, ultrafast spectroscopic methods, single molecule spectroscopy, time resolved X-ray diffraction, luminescence microscopy, and scattering spectroscopy applied to photochemistry. Papers in emerging and applied areas such as luminescent sensors, electroluminescence, solar energy conversion, atmospheric photochemistry, environmental remediation, and related photocatalytic chemistry are also welcome.