Use of NaHCO 3 as the Alkali Component in Photogalvanic Cells

ABSTRACT Photogalvanic cells are one of the solar cells that are capable of solar energy conversion with simultaneous power storage. There are mainly four main components (like alkali, reductant, surfactant, and photosensitizer) required for the fabrication of photogalvanic cells. In this study, the NaHCO 3 (called baking soda, a safe, cheap, and easily available alkali) has been used as alkali material. The NaOH has been largely used in photogalvanics with good electrical output. But its short shelf life, corrosive nature, and high cost are some of the hurdles preventing its sustainable use in solar energy conversion through photogalvanic cells. The NaHCO 3 is characterized by its solubility in safe solvent (i.e., water, solubility 96 g/L at 20°C), longer shelf life, and dissociation constant (0.220 × 10 −7 ). The pH of fresh 0.1 M aqueous solution of NaHCO 3 is 8.3 at 25°C. In the present study, the NaHCO 3 alkali has been exploited with ascorbic acid (AA) reductant, cetrimonium bromide surfactant, and Sunset Yellow FCF (SY) photosensitizer for solar energy conversion and storage through the photogalvanic cells. The observed optimum cell performance for AA‐CTAB‐SY‐NaHCO 3 electrolyte in cylindrical cell photogalvanic system is as potential 352 mV, current 28 µA, power 2.376 µW, FF 0.24, and efficiency 0.09%.