Carbon nanomaterials (CNMs) have been the subject of extensive research for their potential applications in various fields, including photovoltaics and medicine. In recent years, researchers have focused their attention on CNMs as their high electrical conductivity, low cost, and large surface area are promising in replacing traditional platinum-based counter electrodes in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC). In addition to their electrical properties, CNMs have also displayed antibacterial activity, making them an attractive option for medical applications. The combination of CNMs with metal oxides to form composite materials represents a promising approach with significant potential in various fields, including energy and biology. Here, we introduce porous carbon nanospheres (PCNS) derived from Cocos nucifera L. and its ZnO composite (PCNS/ZnO) as an alternative material, which opens up new research insights for platinum-free counter electrodes. Bifacial DSSCs produced using PCNS-based counter electrodes achieved power conversion efficiencies (PCE) of 3.98% and 2.02% for front and rear illumination, respectively. However, with PCNS/ZnO composite-based counter electrodes, the efficiency of the device increased significantly, producing approximately 5.18% and 4.26% for front and rear illumination, respectively. Moreover, these CNMs have shown potential as antibacterial agents. Compared to PCNS, PCNS/ZnO composites exhibited slightly superior antibacterial activity against tested bacterial strains, including gram-positive Bacillus cereus (B. cereus) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), and gram-negative Vibrio harveyi (V. harveyi) and Escherichia coli (E. coli) with MIC values of 125, 250, 125, and 62.5 µg/ml, respectively. It is plausible that the outcomes observed were influenced by the synergistic effects of the composite material.

Graphical abstract

中文翻译：

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椰子衍生的多孔碳纳米球/ZnO 复合材料用于能量收集和抗菌应用

碳纳米材料（CNM）因其在光伏和医学等各个领域的潜在应用而成为广泛研究的主题。近年来，研究人员将注意力集中在CNM上，因为它们具有高导电性、低成本和大比表面积，有望取代染料敏化太阳能电池（DSSC）中传统的铂基对电极。除了电性能外，CNM 还表现出抗菌活性，这使其成为医疗应用的有吸引力的选择。CNM 与金属氧化物结合形成复合材料代表了一种有前景的方法，在包括能源和生物学在内的各个领域具有巨大潜力。在这里，我们引入了源自椰子的多孔碳纳米球（PCNS）及其ZnO复合材料（PCNS/ZnO）作为替代材料，这为无铂对电极开辟了新的研究思路。使用基于 PCNS 的对电极生产的双面 DSSC 的前照明和后照明的功率转换效率 (PCE) 分别为 3.98% 和 2.02%。然而，使用基于 PCNS/ZnO 复合材料的对电极，设备的效率显着提高，前照明和后照明分别产生约 5.18% 和 4.26%。此外，这些 CNM 已显示出作为抗菌剂的潜力。与PCNS相比，PCNS/ZnO复合材料对测试的细菌菌株表现出略优的抗菌活性，包括革兰氏阳性蜡样芽孢杆菌（B. cereus）和金黄色葡萄球菌（S. aureus），以及革兰氏阴性哈维氏弧菌（V. harveyi）和大肠杆菌( E. coli )，MIC 值分别为 125、250、125 和 62.5 µg/ml。观察到的结果可能受到复合材料协同效应的影响。

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