Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSCs) Based on Extracted Natural Dyes

Abstract

Here, three natural dyes were extracted from different fruits and leaves and used as sensitizers for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Chlorophyll was extracted from spinach leaves using acetone as a solvent. Anthocyanin was extracted from red cabbage and onion peels using water. Different characterizations for the prepared natural dyes were conducted including UV-vis absorption, FTIR, and steady-state/time-resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy. Various DSSCs based on the extracted dyes were fabricated. The degradation in the power conversion efficiencies was monitored over a week. The effect of the TiO2 mesoporous layers on the efficiency was also studied. The interfaces between the natural dyes and the TiO2 layers were investigated using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy.

Effect of using betalain, anthocyanin and chlorophyll dyes together as a sensitizer on enhancing the efficiency of dye‐sensitized solar cell

“…Owing to the point that these dyes are rare, toxic, expensive, difficult to synthesize, have high production costs and easily generate environmental pollution, rising actions for using natural dyes have been stated. 12 Natural dyes extracted from fruits and vegetables are indispensable, organic, easily obtainable, and inexpensive. If these solar cells are to be considered as a green energy originator, the more "natural" the dye, the more "green" the cell.…”

In Depth Analysis of Photovoltaic Performance of Chlorophyll Derivative-Based “All Solid-State” Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

“…In this context, utilizing biomass resources for the conversion of solar energy has been receiving increasing attention from industry, academia and governments and will become a major challenge of our future [2][3][4]. Biomass has a great potential as a renewable feedstock for producing solar energy [5,6]. Indeed, protein-pigment complexes in plants, green algae, and cyanobacteria convert solar energy into chemical energy through oxygenic photosynthesis with high efficiency [7][8][9].…”

Emerging Photovoltaic Technologies and Eco-Design—Criticisms and Potential Improvements

“…Finally, it is worth highlighting that DSSCs can achieve further improvements in terms of sustainability through the implementation of nature-based dyes [48,59], the use of alternative substrates [60], such as paper [61,62] and the re-design of the devices in order to make them adequate for dye refurbishment. Obviously, these improvements should be coupled to give enough high photoconversion efficiency.…”