Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells Prepared with Mexican Pre-Hispanic Dyes

Abstract

A dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) is a photovoltaic device capable of generating electrical power from the absorption of solar radiation.ese cells use a SnO 2 : F/TiO 2 /dye heterojunction as the active electrode (working electrode). Active electrodes containing TiO 2 in the anatase crystalline phase and synthetic dyes are used to achieve high conversion efficiencies. Synthetic dyes, whether organic or organometallic compounds, have the disadvantage of being expensive. For this reason, many efforts are made worldwide to find natural dyes with lower production costs that can be used in the fabrication of DSSCs. Nocheztli is a natural red dye obtained from the cochineal insect Dactylopius coccus; the dye dates from pre-Hispanic times and contains high levels of carminic acid (CA). Nocheztli has been used in Mexico in textile dyeing from pre-Hispanic times to the present. Carmine is an organometallic dye with two molecules of carminic acid and one atom of aluminum in its structure; it is obtained by the interaction of the carminic acid from Nocheztli with aluminum salts. Carminic acid and carmine molecules contain a carboxyl group in their structure, allowing them to anchor to TiO 2 , creating a suitable heterojunction to prepare DSSCs. In this study, both dyes are used to sensitize the mesoporous TiO 2 m semiconductor to prepare DSSCs.

Interactions of Opuntia ficus-indica with Dactylopius coccus and D. opuntiae (Hemiptera: Dactylopiidae) through the Study of Their Volatile Compounds

“…Carminic acid is recognized as a natural dye with cosmetic, food, pharmaceutical, textile, and plastic applications [8]. In addition, it is currently used in biomedicine [9] and as a photosynthesizing pigment in solar cells [10].…”

Tendencias emergentes de investigación científica sobre Dactylopius coccus Costa (Hemiptera: dactylopiidae), ácido carmínico y sus derivados: un análisis bibliométrico.

“…Su uso se ha sido favorecido por las restricciones técnicas y regulatorias de algunos colorantes sintéticos con efectos colaterales sobre la salud. Asimismo, el AC y sus derivados son apreciados por su alta estabilidad al calor, luz y al oxigeno (Dufossé, 2014), por sus nuevas aplicaciones potenciales en escala mundial (Velho et al, 2017;Sánchez-García et al, 2018;Roslan et al, 2018) y por sus propiedades antioxidantes y ausencia de actividad mutagénica (Li et al, 2009), entre otros. A lo anterior se suman, la identificación y caracterización del principal alérgeno (Ohgiya et al, 2009) que permitió el uso del AC con riesgo menor a la salud, la mayor eficiencia en los métodos de extracción que reducen las reacciones adversas por la presencia de residuos e impurezas (Schmidt-Jacobsen y Frandsen, 2011; Borges et al, 2012) y el desarrollo de métodos más simples y rápidos para detectar contaminantes (Nakayama et al, 2015).…”

Carminic acid extracted from cochineal insect as photosensitizer for dye‐sensitized solar cells

“…The best conversion efficiency of 0.36% was found for the DSSC sensitized with the combination of these pigments. As a sensitizer for the DSSCs, nocheztli composing of CA obtained from the cochineal insect was considered 19 and a conversion efficiency of 0.24% was reported. Jamikorn et al 20 modified electrolyte to boost the performance of DSSCs based on the CA and the conversion efficiency of the DSSCs increased from 0.11% to 0.93%.…”

“…These promises motivated us to fabricate DSSCs loaded with CA. Although various efforts have been devoted to demonstrate the appropriateness of CA as a sensitizer up to now, 8,[18][19][20][21][22][23] the power conversion efficiency of the devices consisting of CA is far from satisfactory. Herein, DSSCs loaded with CA have been fabricated.…”