Nano-structured calcium silicate hydrate and doping of soggy sand electrolytes

Abstract

An amorphous nano-structured calcium silicate hydrate with a high surface area and wide band gap can be used in soggy sand solar cells as oxide material. The material can be reinforced to yield a cell that is active over weeks despite employing the readily photo-bleached iodine/triiodide redox couple. The material offers a unique opportunity to be doped by cerium or vanadium, generating cells with higher ion mobility than observed for comparative silicate, silica or titania containing cells. In case of cerium containing oxide materials short circuit currents were twice as high as for the pure electrolyte. For vanadium containing cells current values were observed to be in excess of three times the current found in silica or pure electrolyte cells. These findings show a new possibility to enhance cell performance for soggy sand electrolyte solar cells, batteries and other devices.