Synthesis of graphitic carbon nano-onions for dye sensitized solar cells

•Carbon nano-onions were synthesized on copper coated glass substrate using low-cost candle synthesis.•The obtained carbon nano-onions are highly graphitized.•Deposition time affects the quality of deposited carbon nano-onion.•Can be used to replace Pt in dye sensitized solar cells.•Produce solar cell with power conversion efficiency ∼3.39%.

This study examines dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) incorporated with carbon nano-onions as counter electrodes. The synthesized carbon nano-onion nanoparticles were deposited through candle flame synthesis on Cu sputter coated glass substrates. The deposited carbon nano-onions were extensively characterized through scanning electron microscopy, energy disperse spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy. It was found that highly graphitic, interconnected carbon nano-onion with mean diameter of around 30 nm can be formed through the proposed method. Cyclic voltammetry and subsequent DSSCs performances indicated that the carbon nano-onion based counter electrode exhibit comparable performances to conventionally used Pt and could be scaled up in industrial production.

Graphical abstractFigure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide