Extraction and application of natural pigments for fabrication of green dye-sensitized solar cells

Abstract

Four dye-sensitized solar cell devices are designed and fabricated based on natural dyes extracted from Celosia Cristata, Saffron, Cynoglossum, and eggplant peel, as photosensitizers. The UV–vis technique has been served to determine maximum absorption of natural extract and pre-dyed photoanode. The Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) was employed to cover the presence of functional groups. The cyclic voltammetry method has been employed to assess the possibility of charge transfer from dried natural dyes to the photoelectrode. The performance of natural-based dye-sensitized solar cells is determined subsequently. The highest power conversion efficiency was ca. 1.38%, which belonged to Celosia Cristata extract. The devices were examined for higher efficiencies, individually, co-sensitized arrangement and/or in tandem with each other.