Electrospun Composite Nanofibers in Photoenergy Applications

Abstract

The pressing needs of global demands to generate sufficient renewable and clean energy have attracted significant attention to harvest photochemical energy. Two types of artificial photoenergy processes, including the dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) and photoreduction of CO2 solar fuel cells are discussed in this review. In the artificial photoenergy application, electrospinning process has attracted wide interest in fabricating nanofibers because of low processing cost and large scale production possibilities. The fabrication of electrospun composite nanofibers is normally followed by solvothermal or annealing treatment in order to obtain highly crystallized metal oxides. Highlights: The application of electrospun composite nanofibers has shown superior performance in artificial photosynthesis process. The large surface area of nanofibers mat has facilitate the adsorption-desorption process during photocatalysis as well as has induced the growth of metal oxides on electrospun nanofibers. Keywords: Composite, Dye-sensitized solar cells, Electrospinninig, Nanofibers, Photoreduction of CO2, TiO2, ZnO.