Abstract:
Photocapacitors that can harvest solar energy and store it in the form of electrical energy, are
expected to solve the problem of unstable power output of solar cells under fluctuating sunlight. In the
present study, a novel heterostructured Ag2MoO4-SnS2 photocapacitive device was developed. In this
device, SnS2 nanoparticles act as capacitive platform via redox pseudocapacitance, whereas Ag2MoO4
molecules act as the active core of the device. The crystalline structure and the surface morphology of
Ag2MoO4-SnS2 coated carbon sheet was examined by powder X-ray Diffraction method (XRD) and Scanning
Electron Microscopy (SEM) respectively. The XRD pattern indicates that Ag2MoO4 coated on carbon sheet
is in β phase with respect to Ag2MoO4. The SEM analysis reveals Ag2MoO4 coated carbon sheet as hexagonal
nanorods, and Ag2MoO4- SnS2 coated carbon sheet as spherical nanoparticles. The device, when subjected
to visible light illumination, showed a specific capacitance of 780 mF/cm2 with an open circuit potential of
0.8 V vs Ag/AgCl electrode. The high capacitance obtained with this novel device may be attributed to the
large specific area and high conductivity of the Ag2MoO4- SnS2 coated carbon sheet. This research study
has open up a new avenue for an effective heterostructured photocapacitor.
