Facile fabrication of PVA nanofiber coated with PEDOT as a counter electrodes for dye-sensitized solar cell

Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) nanofibers coated with poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) as a counter electrode (CE) is a promising material to substitute platinum CE for dye-sensitized solar cell due to the high conductivity of PEDOT and high surface area to volume ratio of PVA. PVA nanofibers and PEDOT were prepared through facile techniques of electrospinning and electropolymerization, respectively. Field emission scanning electron microscopy revealed that PEDOT was distributed evenly on PVA nanofibers with porous cauliflower-like structure. PVA/PEDOT nanofibers CE had low charge transfer resistance (Rct) and possessed a good electrocatalytic activity with a low value of peak-to-peak separation (Epp = 0.34 V), thus an improved efficiency of 2.11% was obtained in comparison to platinum (1.14%), PEDOT (1.39%) and PVA nanofibers (0.017%)

Surface Characteristics of Electrospun p-Sulphonated Calix[4]Arene Functionalized Cellulose Acetate Nanofiber and Its Behaviour towards Methylene Blue Adsorption

p-sulphonated calix[4]arene (p-SOCX) functionalized cellulose acetate/graphene oxide (CA/GO) nanofibers were successfully prepared via the electrospinning technique. The presence of p-SOCX within the fiber matrix was ascertained using Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy and Carbon-Hydrogen-Nitrogen-Sulphur elemental analyses. Apparent changes in morphology of the samples were observed under scanning electron microscope where fiber diameters increased with increasing p-SOCX content. Preliminary dye removal test at different pH, dosage, and temperature of functionalized CA/GO nanofiber demonstrates enhanced adsorption capacity of methylene blue in presence of p-SOCX compared to pristine CA nanofiber and CA/GO nanofiber at an optimum pH 8. The highest removal efficiency obtained was 88.84% with initial methylene blue dye concentration of 10 mg/L, adsorbent dosage of 20 mg/10 mL, contact time of 30 min at room temperature ca. 293 K