Abstract
The natural and eco-friendly solid-state electrolytes were prepared using varying concentrations (wt%) of ZnSO4.7H2O salt and pure acacia gum through the solution cast method. Multiple analytical methods were employed to characterize the resulting acacia gum electrolyte samples. XRD analysis confirmed the increased presence of the amorphous phase with the introduction of salt. FTIR analysis explored the formation of interlinking bands and their complex nature upon salt incorporation. The ionic conductivity was found from room temperature (RT) to 100 °C range. The optimized high ionic conductivity value was found to be 1.11 × 10−4 S/cm at 100 °C for the electrolyte composed of 70 wt% acacia gum and 30 wt% ZnSO4.7H2O, while at RT it was 1.06 × 10−5 S/cm for the same composition. Activation energy values fell within the 0.6–0.92 eV range for all samples. Complex dielectric (real and imaginary) and complex electric modulus analyses were conducted. Dielectric permittivity and electrical modulus analyses revealed a significant interaction between the segmental movements of acacia gum and salt ions. Ionic relaxation processes were explored in terms of conductivity relaxation time using the electrical modulus. The presence of a long tail in the complex dielectric modulus study indicated that the acacia-based solid electrolyte displayed favorable capacitance properties. Further, the Solar Cell (dye-sensitized solar cell) device was fabricated with (Acacia gum + ZnSO4.7H2O) electrolyte. The current density-voltage (J-V) characteristics of the prepared device were investigated. The outstanding results were optimized in the present work, Voc = 0.81 V, Jsc = 9.56 mA/cm2, Fill Factor of 0.67, and optimum power conversion efficiency ƞ = 5.17 % for the electrolyte composed of 70 wt% acacia gum and 30 wt% ZnSO4.7H2O device.
Published Version
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