Dyes Extracted from Safflower, Medicago Sativa, and Ros Marinus Oficinalis as Photosensitizers for Dye-sensitized Solar Cells

Abstract

In this work, three extracts of plant leaves were used as sensitizers for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). These plants are Safflower, Medicago sativa and Ros marinus oficinalis. The natural dyes were extracted before and after grinding the plant leaves. The UV-VIS absorption spectra of the three extracts in ethyl alcohol solution were measured. The DSSCs were assembled using TiO2 films on Fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) coated glass. The DSSCs sensitized with the extracts of grinded leaves showed a better performance compared to those sensitized with un-grinded leaves with the highest efficiency of 0.115 % was obtained for the DSSC sensitized with Medicago sativa. The performance of the DSSCs sensitized with Safflower and Ros marinus oficinalis was significantly improved by acid treatment of the FTO substrates. Impedance spectroscopy of the fabricated cells was also carried out.

Experimental and theoretical study of 1, 4-naphthoquinone based dye in dye-sensitized solar cells using ZnO photoanode

“…Obviously, synthetic dyes have higher sensitization activity and stability than natural dyes [10,14]. The natural dyes used as sensitizers in DSSCs provide very low efficiencies because of the absence of specific functional attachment groups and low absorption in the visible region of the solar spectrum [54][55][56][57][58]. Zhang et al [59] synthesized three synthetic dyes and studied them by using a TiO 2 photoanode and observed efficiencies as high as 7.6 %, which are higher than those of natural dyes.…”

Comparative Study of Eosin-Y and Rose Bengal Sensitized SnO2-ZnO Composite Electrode for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell

“…[3] For the preparation of photoanodes and substrates for dye molecules, TiO 2 nanoparticles are considered to be the most promising semiconductor material due to their high device performance based on their large surface area and bandgap position. [4][5][6][7][8] As the TiO 2 photoanode shows varying efficiency with organic dyes [9] and natural dyes, [10][11][12][13] when these photoanodes and FTO are treated with some acidic treatment, the performance of these photoanodes increases. [14][15] However, the photoconversion efficiency of TiO 2 nanoparticles-based DSSCs is influenced by its low electron transport and collection.…”