Synthesis And Characterization Of Gel Polymer Electrolyte And Zinc Oxide For Photoelectrochemical Cell

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Date
2011-07
Authors
Alias, Siti Salwa
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Publisher
Universiti Sains Malaysia
Abstract
This project is divided into three sections: preparation and characterization of gel polymer electrolyte (GPE) based on commercial agar; synthesis and characterization of nanoparticles powders zinc oxide (ZnO); and fabrication of photoelectrochemical cell (PEC). The GPE was prepared by dissolving agar powder in glycerol. Various concentrations of ammonium iodide and iodine were added to the agar paste until an optimum conductivity was reached. The optimum conductivity of (2.64 ± 0.19) x 10-3 S cm-1 was obtained from a sample of agar paste with 1.0 M NH4I and 0.2 μM I2 (A1.0N0.2I). The A1.0N0.2I had the lowest viscosity values of (1.17 ± 0.29) Pa s. All GPEs showed Arrhenius behavior with the lowest activation energy value of 0.25 eV for A1.0N0.2I. A1.0N0.2I also showed good physical appearance. Meanwhile, the ZnO nanoparticles powders were synthesized by sol-gel centrifugation process at various pH. ZnO synthesized at pH 9 had the maximum crystallite size (25.36 nm). The average particles diameter sizes were 49.98 nm and 48.1 nm, respectively, measured from field emission scanning electron microscope and transmission electron microscope analysis. The lattice spacing is 5.900 Å between adjacent lattice planes. The average particle size affects the Fourier transform infrared peaks shift. The ZnO pH 9 had good optical properties with band gap energy of 3.31 eV. The fabrication of ITO-ZnO (N719 dye)/ A1.0N0.2I GPE/ ITO PEC had the open circuit voltage = 1.38 V, (VOC) short circuit current density = 7.5 mA cm-2, fill factor = 0.18 of and overall conversion efficiency percentage = 1.9 % under illumination of 100 mW cm-2.
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Keywords
Synthesis and characterization of gel polymer electrolyte , and zinc oxide for photoelectrochemical cell
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