One-step fabrication of carbon fiber derived from waste paper and its application for catalyzing tri-iodide reduction

Abstract

Two carbon fibers were first fabricated by one-step pyrolysis of papers (filter paper and facial tissue), and then employed as catalytic materials for counter electrodes in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) to investigate their potential application. The results show that the microstructure transformation and main weight loss of both the papers are mainly happened in the temperature range of 300–400 °C. After pyrolysis at 800°C, the weight remaining of the filter paper and facial tissue is 1.92% and 4.95%, respectively. The obtained carbon fibers belong to an amorphous carbon consisting of the randomly oriented stacks of graphene sheets. The diameters of both the carbon fibers are about 10 μm, on which there are a certain amount of fine carbon nanofibers. The amorphous microstructure and unique fine nanofibers of the carbon fibers induce more excellent catalytic activity for triiodide ion reduction compared with the biochar (derived from poplar leaf) and the graphite. As a result, the carbon fiber based DSCs display obviously higher efficiency than the biochar or graphite based ones. The conversion efficiency of the DSCs employing the filter paper derived carbon fiber, facial tissue derived carbon fiber, biochar and graphite is 4.72%, 4.70%, 1.33% and 0.77%, respectively.