Efficiency enhancement of natural dye sensitized solar cell by optimizing electrode fabrication parameters

Abstract

Efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) depends on several interrelated factors such as type and concentration of dye, type and thickness of photoelectrode and counter electrode. Optimized combination of these factors leads to a more efficient cell. This paper presents the effect of these parameters on cell efficiency. TiO 2 nanoporous thin films of different thicknesses (5 µm to 25 µm) were fabricated on indium doped tin oxide (ITO) coated glass by doctor blading method and characterized by inverted microscope, stylus surface profiler and scanning electron microscope (SEM). Natural organic dye of different concentrations, extracted from turmeric, was prepared with ethanol solvent. Different combinations of dye concentrations and film thicknesses along with different types of carbon catalyst have been investigated by I-V characterization. The result shows that the cell made of a counter electrode catalyst material prepared by candle flame carbon combined with about 15 µm thick photoelectrode and 100 mg/mL dye in ethanol solvent, achieves the highest efficiency of 0.45 %, with open circuit voltage of 566 mV and short circuit current density of 1.02 mA/cm 2 .

Influence of natural dye adsorption on the structural, morphological and optical properties of TiO2based photoanode of dye-sensitized solar cell

“…7b, it is observed that most of the mesopores, which are clearly visible in Fig. 7a for sample S1, are filled by dye molecules, which is well agreed with previous reports [34,38,50].…”

“…Afterwards, 5 g of dry turmeric was dipped in 100 mL of ethanol solvent in a dried beaker to prepare the dye solution. After sealing the beaker top with aluminum foil paper, the beaker was located in a dark place for 12 hours to extract color by self-extraction process [34,38].…”

Annealing temperature effect on structural, morphological and optical parameters of mesoporous TiO2film photoanode for dye-sensitized solar cell application

“…At first, in a beaker the following materials were mixed properly by hand with the help of a glass rod for few minutes: 0.1 g of TiO 2 nanopowder (Degussa P25), 0.2 mL titanium (IV) isopropoxide, 0.1 mL citric acid (0.1 M), 0.05 mL Triton X-100, and 0.1 mL PEG. Then, to formulate more uniform homogeneous TiO 2 paste, previous procedure was repeated [23,24]. Then, the TiO 2 coated ITO glass substrates (1 cm 2 ) were annealed at 300°C, 350°C, 400°C, 450°C, 500, and 600°C for 1 hour [23,24].…”

“…Then, to formulate more uniform homogeneous TiO 2 paste, previous procedure was repeated [23,24]. Then, the TiO 2 coated ITO glass substrates (1 cm 2 ) were annealed at 300°C, 350°C, 400°C, 450°C, 500, and 600°C for 1 hour [23,24]. After heat treatment, the substrates were allowed to cool slowly.…”

“…The amount and types of chemicals influence photoanode properties as well. In this study, we made TiO 2 paste with unique chemical combination that was found in previous studies [23,24] to form an efficient photoanode. However, there has been no report why this particular combination of chemicals along with specific annealing temperature provide higher efficiency cell.…”