The main objective of this work was to evaluate the effects of rice husk ash and wollastonite microfibers incorporation, added per clay partial substituition, on physical and thermal properties of refractory ceramic composites. The raw materials characterization occurred with respect to their chemical composition (XRF), phase composition (XRD) and granulometry by laser. The composites were avaluated by physical properties - apparent porosity, bulk density, water absorption, linear retraction after sinterization and mass variation - and thermal properties - thermal conductivity and thermal shock. The rice husk ash used in the present work proved to have potential as a ceramic precursor in the development of refractories. The clay substitution per ash and the microfiber different percentages resulted in an increase in water absorption and apparent porosity and a reduction in the linear retraction. The increase in porosity suggests that the mullitization was insufficient. Regarding the thermal performance, the thermal conductivity was inversely proportional to the porosity and the microfiber percentage. In addition, the higher the thermal-shock temperature gradient the lower was the number of cycles resisted by the composites.

Diversifying the energy matrix is crucial to meet the growing worldwide demand and mitigate the environmental impacts of fossil fuels. This study highlights dye‐sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) as an efficient and ecologically sustainable alternative in this regard, especially third‐generation DSSCs. These cells stand out due to their improved efficiency and simplified manufacturing processes. In the fabrication of DSSCs, it is essential to choose electron donor and acceptor materials carefully, and porphyrin and fullerene compounds show promising applications. This study uses theoretical approaches such as DFT and TD‐DFT to analyze systems formed by porphyrin, C60 fullerene, and compounds generated by the copyrolysis of biomass and inorganic waste. By using residues to develop photovoltaic materials, this paper contributes to the development of more efficient and ecological solutions. The results obtained indicate that the C60‐3‐methyl‐1,2‐benzenodiol‐P and C60‐vanillin‐P triads are especially promising, showing ideal values for properties such as bandgap, electrophilicity, and electron‐accepting power. The proposed systems have electronic transitions occurring in the visible region of the electromagnetic spectrum, which indicates their applicability to the development of solar cells. The light harvesting efficiency (LHE) results showed a high performance, with all systems having an LHE of over 0.9, which suggests an excellent energy‐capturing capacity. In short, this study suggests that the proposed triads, based on the combination of porphyrins, fullerenes, and copyrolysis compounds, are highly promising for the development of efficient and sustainable solar cells.