Uses of new natural dye photosensitizers in fabrication of high potential dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs)

• Published in: Materials science in semiconductor processing Vol. 27; pp. 733 - 739
• Main Authors: Hamadanian, M., Safaei-Ghomi, J., Hosseinpour, M., Masoomi, R., Jabbari, V.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01.11.2014; Elsevier
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties; Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties; Delphinidin; Dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC); Dyes; Electrodes; Energy; Exact sciences and technology; Hydroxyl groups; Nanoscale materials: clusters, nanoparticles, nanotubes, and nanocrystals; Natural dyes; Natural energy; Optical properties and condensed-matter spectroscopy and other interactions of matter with particles and radiation; Optical properties of low-dimensional, mesoscopic, and nanoscale materials and structures; Photoelectric effect; Photovoltaic; Photovoltaic cells; Photovoltaic conversion; Physics; Semiconductors; Solar cells; Solar cells. Photoelectrochemical cells; Solar energy; Structure of solids and liquids; crystallography; Structure of specific crystalline solids; TiO2; Titanium dioxide; Photovoltaic; Natural dyes; Dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC); Delphinidin; TiO2; Performance evaluation; Dye-sensitized solar cell; Scanning electron microscopy; Short circuit currents; Photovoltaic effect; Natural dye; X ray diffraction; Open circuit voltage; Optical properties; Optical characteristic; Hydroxyl group; Pigments; Ultraviolet visible spectrum; TiO; Titanium oxide; Photosensitizer; Sensitizer; Ultraviolet visible spectrometry; Crystalline structure
• ISSN: 1369-8001; 1873-4081
• DOI: 10.1016/j.mssp.2014.08.017

In the present study, dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) were fabricated by sensitizing TiO2 P25-based electrodes using a series of natural dye extracted from plant sources of Reseda luteola, Berberis integerrima, Panica granatum Pleniflora, Consolida orientalis, Reseda gredensis, Clemetis orientalis, Adonis flammea, Salvia sclarea, and Consolida ajacis. The optical properties of the natural dye extracts were investigated by UV–vis spectroscopy. The crystalline structure and morphological characteristic of TiO2 electrode were analyzed by XRD and SEM, respectively. Our findings showed that due to Delphinidin is the main pigment of C. ajacis and interaction between the hydroxyl groups of the Delphinidin and the TiO2 surface is very efficient, this sensitizer owns the best photovoltaic performance among the all natural dyes. Photoelectrochemical performance of the natural dyes based-DSSCs illustrated short-circuit photocurrent (Jsc) and open-circuit voltages (Voc) ranging from 0.004 to 0.68mA and 0.37 to 0.64, respectively.