Development of TiO2-based dye-sensitized solar cells using natural dyes extracted from some plant-based materials
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2020
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
ELSEVIER
Abstract
The need for a green and more environmentally friendly energy production has
led to recent research into the use of natural products in the production
photovoltaic cells. In this study, TiO2-based dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs)
were fabricated using photo-sensitizers made from ten natural dyes extracted
from different plant parts (i.e. seeds, stalks, peels and flowers) of some selected
plants and using candle soot carbon as a counter electrode. The chemical
composition of the materials was determined using basic phytochemical
screening assays. The extracted dye materials were characterized using UV and
IR methods after which they were used in developing DSSCs. The DSSCs were
then characterized under AM 1.5 illuminations to measure their photoelectrochemical
properties. The dyes containing carboxyl and hydroxyl functional
groups showed weak to large absorption under the visible light (400-700 nm)
irradiation. The photo-electrochemical performance of the various cells gave an
efficiency of as high as 0.18% with open circuit voltages ranging from 0.28 to 0.45
V and short-circuits photocurrent densities from 0.26 to 1.69 mA.cm-1. Better
efficiencies can be attained by improving the DSSC constructional parameters.
Description
This article is published by Elsevier and is also available at www.bosaljournals.com/chemint/
Keywords
Citation
Sanda et al / Chemistry International 7(1) (2021)