Semiconducting Sc<inf>2</inf>O<inf>3</inf>–ZnO nanostructures: Sustainably synthesized efficient material for electro-catalysis, energy storage, and passivation in ambient perovskite solar cells

Abstract

This work presents the first account of the transformed sustainable production in conjugation with the microwave processing of the scandium oxide (Sc2O3) and zinc oxide (ZnO) forming Sc2O3–ZnO nanostructure. Upon nanocomposite formation, the band gap energy was alleviated to 3.87 eV from 5.8 eV Sc2O3–ZnO nanostructure was characterized with the cubic and hexagonal geometry possessing an average crystallite size of 69.21 nm. The developed nanomaterial exhibited superior catalytic potential towards oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) with the minor overpotential of 180 and 125 mV, respectively. The designed electrode remained unscathed electrochemically for 1500 min in electrolyte environment. Also, this material expressed exquisite potential for charge storage with the specific capacitance of 589 F g−1 in NaCl electrolyte showing candidacy for supercapacitor application. Furthermore, the passivation role of these nanomaterials improved the photovoltaic efficiency of the perovskite solar cell, which achieved 11.41% of the power conversion efficiency in addition to improved fill factor. Sc2O3–ZnO nanostructure is a sustainable and eco-friendly material with the efficient output in diverse energy systems. Therefore, it possesses greater candidacy for adoption in terms of commercialization replacing costly materials.