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Enhance the Photocurrent of Cu/n-Cu2O Solid State Solar Cell Using Coconut Shell Activated Carbon (CAC) as Upper - Electrode
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Coconut shells are used for production of activated carbon. In this research, alkaline-bio scoured coconut shell powder was subjected to one step pyrolysis activation by using Phosphoric acid. The acid treated coconut shell particles were fed into a tube furnace with a heating rate of 10 °C min-1 until the temperature reached at 360 °C and dwell time 15 min in N2 atmosphere. Next, they were cooled into room temperature. A thin film of n-Cu2O was fabricated by immersing a well cleaned copper sheet in a 10-3 M HCl solution for 60 h. CAC was placed on Cu/n-Cu2O substrate and ITO conductive glass plate was placed to fabricate Cu/n-Cu2O/CAC/ITO solid state photovoltaic cell. Here, CAC acts as an upper electrode, separate photo-generated charge carriers and enhance photocurrent. BET surface area analysis, diffuse reflectance spectra, photocurrent action spectra, time development of photocurrent and SEM morphology were used to analyse the prepared samples.
Keywords
Activated Carbon, BET, Coconut Shell, n-Cu2O.
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