Aloe vera-peel derived porous carbon integrated Co/Mn-oxide based nano-hybrids: An efficient electrocatalyst in advanced photovoltaics

We propose a facile strategy to synthesize highly electrocatalytic active nanohybrids by the integration of aloe vera-peel derived porous carbon into manganese-based and cobalt/manganese-based oxides. These nanohybrids exhibit unique three-dimensional porous network structures and possess high surface areas, providing numerous catalytic sites and multiple rapid electron transfer channels. In this work, the as-synthesized nanohybrids are used as accelerants for tri-iodide reduction in dye-sensitized solar cells, resulting in attractive cell efficiency and superior electrochemical stability. The solar cell with low-cost bio-based carbon integrated cobalt/manganeseoxide counter electrode exhibits higher photovoltaic efficiency than that of platinum electrode (7.01% vs. 6.44%). In addition, hybrid catalyst loaded counter electrodes also demonstrate long-term electrochemical stability in electrolyte, retaining 97% of its initial efficiency (6.83%/7.01%) in working cell, after going through multiple cyclic voltammetry scans. The utilization of synergistic effects of high performance constituents and controlled morphology is a key strategy to intensify the catalytic activity, electrochemical stability, and power conversion efficiency in advanced photovoltaics.