EDSD

THE ROLE OF FUNGI IN THE GREEN SYNTHESIS OF CdS QUANTUM DOTS: NANOBIOTECHNOLOGY APPLIED TO SOLAR ENERGY

DOI: 10.24263/EDSD-2024-6-29

Tatiana Cardoso e Bufalo1*, Helena Rabelo Freitas2, Mylene Silva Ladislao1, Carlos Godinho de Abreu1, Hector José Valério Ardon1, Joaquim Paulo da Silva1, Eustáquio Souza Dias1*

1Institute of Natural Sciences – Federal University of Lavras – Lavras, Brazil

2Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology – Barcelona, Spain

*Corresponding authors: tatiana.cardoso@ufla.br, esdias@ufla.br

Solar energy, the direct conversion of sunlight into electricity by a photovoltaic cell, is the most significant renewable technology and green energy source towards energy sustainability. Photovoltaic technology helps the mitigation of the effects of global warming, generating no greenhouse gas emissions on the process of generating electric power and, consequently, no pollution. The application of nanomaterials and nanocomposites in solar cells enhance solar light absorption, and can be easily designed by biological methods, resulting in more efficient and cleaner energy sources. The present work explores the ability of fungi to perform the green synthesis of CdS semiconductor quantum dots (CdS QDs) in order to assemble a quantum dot sensitized solar cell prototype. CdS QDs were synthesized by Pleurotus, Coprinus, Agaricus and Fusarium fungi. UVVis spectra of CdS QDs highlighted a broad band of absorption, while the luminescence spectrum revealed excitonic bands of nanoparticles with different sizes and TEM images showed that the CdS QDs were quasi-spherical in shape and had diameters ranging from 3-7nm. The innovative application of nanoparticles synthesized by fungi in solar cells relies on the assumption that the metabolites secreted by fungi can act as molecular linkers capable of adsorbing the QDs onto solid substrates so as to build an eco-friendly and efficient photovoltaic energy prototype.

CITE:

e Bufalo, T. C., Freitas, H. R., Ladislao, M. S., de Abreu, C. G., Ardon, H. J. V., da Silva, J. P., & Dias, E. S. (2024). The role of fungi in the green synthesis of CdS quantum dots: nanobiotechnology applied to solar energy. Selected Papers of VІ International Conference on European Dimensions of Sustainable Development, May 15-17, 2024. National University of Food Technologies, Kyiv, 256-264. https://doi.org/10.24263/EDSD-2024-6-29

DOI: 10.24263/EDSD-2024-6-29