Abstract

GREEN SYNTHESIS OF CUO NANOPARTICLES FOR THE APPLICATION OF DYE SENSITIZED SOLAR CELL

Worku Wubet Andualem*

Abstract

In recent years, the development of efficient green chemistry methods for synthesis of metal oxide nanoparticles has become a major focus of researchers. The investigations carried out are in an attempt to find an eco-friendly technique for the production of well-characterized nanoparticles. One of the most considered methods is production of metal oxide nanoparticles using cost efficient and environment favoring methods like green synthesis. A review with the perspective of synthesis of Copper oxide nanoparticles have been presented here. Synthesis of high-quality nanoparticles with respect to chemical purity, phase selectivity, crystallinity and homogeneity in particle size with controlled state of agglomeration in a cost-effective procedure is still a challenge to material chemists. Consequently, many efforts have been devoted to the finding of sustainable reactions from the feedstocks to solvents, to synthesis and to processing. Green chemistry actively seeks ways to produce materials in a way that is more benign to human health and the environment. It encompasses a series of considerations in the design of environmentally benign protocols. A major point in the design of greener and more sustainable processes relates to the efficiency of the process, which has to take into account several parameters including energy, material consumption (preferably use of bio-renewable resources) and man-power. The synthesized copper oxide nanoparticles are characterized by Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) to identify functional groups, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to characterize nanoparticles size and morphology, UV-Vis spectroscopy to characterize optical properties of CuO nanoparticles and X-ray powder to characterize crystal structure. CuO NPs in dye sensitized solar cell used as counter electrode. Natural dyes are environmentally and economically superior to ruthenium-based dyes because they are nontoxic, cheap, easy attainability and abundance in supply of raw materials.

Keywords: Nanoparticles, CuO, DSSCs, Counter electrode.