Eco-friendly Egyptian blue (CaCuSi4O10) dye for luminescent solar concentrator applications

Abstract

This study focuses on synthesizing the heavy metal-free ancient Egyptian blue (EB; CaCuSi₄O₁₀) dye using a facile ceramic method for luminescent solar concentrator (LSC) application. XRD, SEM and EDX results confirmed that this well-crystallized material is successfully synthesized. Optical studies revealed that EB has a high Stokes shift and possesses an average lifetime of 110.50 μs with a quantum yield of 12.93%. Finally, an EB-integrated LSC was fabricated that exhibits a power conversion efficiency (η) of 0.15% and an optical conversion efficiency (η_opt) of 1.21%, which are the highest values reported so far using EB.