Here, we report on utilizing a photoactive protein, bacteriorhodopsin (bR), as a light harvester in combination with TiO 2 nanoparticles in biosensitized solar cell application. Experiments have been conducted to investigate the capability of surface adsorption of bR on nanoparticular TiO 2 photoanodes. Different pretreatment processes have been done to modify the interface of TiO 2 nanoparticles and bR as a biophotosensitizer. Our results indicate the feasibility of efficient immobilization and photoinduced charge transfer of bR to the nanostructured TiO 2 photoelectrode. Under illumination of simulated AM1.5 sunlight, the solar-light-to-electricity conversion efficiency of the designed solar cell, composed of nanoparticular and nanofibrous layers, reached up to 0.35%, with an open circuit voltage of 533 mV and photocurrent density of 1 mA cm −2 . This optimized design of our bR-sensitized solar cell shows superior energy conversion efficiency in comparison to previously reported studies.
Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), which are proposed as a substitute for silicon crystalline solar cells, have received considerable attention in the recent decade. They could be produced from inexpensive materials through low-cost processes. In the current work, a bio-sensitized solar cell is designed using abundant, cheap, and nontoxic materials. Bacteriorhodopsin and bacterioruberin are two natural biomolecules found in the cytoplasmic membrane of Halobacterium salinarum. These two pigments were immobilized on nanoporous titanium dioxide films successfully and employed as molecular sensitizers in DSSC with efficient photocurrent generation. The photovoltaic performance of DSSCs based on bacteriorhodopsin and bacterioruberin sensitizers was investigated. Under AM1.5 irradiation a short-circuit current of 0.45 mA cm(-2) , open circuit voltages of 0.57 V, fill factor of 0.62, and an overall energy conversion efficiency of 0.16% are achieved by employing a mixture of biomolecules as a sensitizer.
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