Recent achievements, based on lead (Pb) halide perovskites, have prompted comprehensive research on low-cost photovoltaics, in order to avoid the major challenges that arise in this respect: Stability and toxicity. In this study, device modelling of lead (Pb)-free perovskite solar cells has been carried out considering methyl ammonium tin bromide (CH₃NH₃SnBr₃) as perovskite absorber layer. The perovskite structure has been justified theoretically by Goldschmidt tolerance factor and the octahedral factor. Numerical modelling tools were used to investigate the effects of amphoteric defect and interface defect states on the photovoltaic parameters of CH₃NH₃SnBr₃-based perovskite solar cell. The study identifies the density of defect tolerance in the absorber layer, and that both the interfaces are 10¹⁵ cm⁻³, and 10¹⁴ cm⁻³, respectively. Furthermore, the simulation evaluates the influences of metal work function, uniform donor density in the electron transport layer and the impact of series resistance on the photovoltaic parameters of proposed n-TiO₂/i-CH₃NH₃SnBr₃/p-NiO solar cell. Considering all the optimization parameters, CH₃NH₃SnBr₃-based perovskite solar cell exhibits the highest efficiency of 21.66% with the V_oc of 0.80 V, J_sc of 31.88 mA/cm² and Fill Factor of 84.89%. These results divulge the development of environmentally friendly methyl ammonium tin bromide perovskite solar cell.

Radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering was used to deposit tungsten disulfide (WS₂) thin films on top of soda lime glass substrates. The deposition power of RF magnetron sputtering varied at 50, 100, 150, 200, and 250 W to investigate the impact on film characteristics and determine the optimized conditions for suitable application in thin-film solar cells. Morphological, structural, and opto-electronic properties of as-grown films were investigated and analyzed for different deposition powers. All the WS₂ films exhibited granular morphology and consisted of a rhombohedral phase with a strong preferential orientation toward the (101) crystal plane. Polycrystalline ultra-thin WS₂ films with bandgap of 2.2 eV, carrier concentration of 1.01 × 10¹⁹ cm⁻³, and resistivity of 0.135 Ω-cm were successfully achieved at RF deposition power of 200 W. The optimized WS₂ thin film was successfully incorporated as a window layer for the first time in CdTe/WS₂ solar cell. Initial investigations revealed that the newly incorporated WS₂ window layer in CdTe solar cell demonstrated photovoltaic conversion efficiency of 1.2% with V_oc of 379 mV, J_sc of 11.5 mA/cm², and FF of 27.1%. This study paves the way for WS₂ thin film as a potential window layer to be used in thin-film solar cells.

As synthetic antioxidants that are widely used in foods are known to cause detrimental health effects, studies on natural additives as potential antioxidants are becoming increasingly important. In this work, the total phenolic content (TPC) and antioxidant activity of Ficus carica Linn latex from 18 cultivars were investigated. The TPC of latex was calculated using the Folin–Ciocalteu assay. 1,1-Diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2′-azinobis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) and ferric ion reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) were used for antioxidant activity assessment. The bioactive compounds from F. carica latex were extracted via maceration and ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) with 75% ethanol as solvent. Under the same extraction conditions, the latex of cultivar ‘White Genoa’ showed the highest antioxidant activity of 65.91% ± 1.73% and 61.07% ± 1.65% in DPPH, 98.96% ± 1.06% and 83.04% ± 2.16% in ABTS, and 27.08 ± 0.34 and 24.94 ± 0.84 mg TE/g latex in FRAP assay via maceration and UAE, respectively. The TPC of ‘White Genoa’ was 315.26 ± 6.14 and 298.52 ± 9.20 µg GAE/mL via the two extraction methods, respectively. The overall results of this work showed that F. carica latex is a potential natural source of antioxidants. This finding is useful for further advancements in the fields of food supplements, food additives and drug synthesis in the future.