Photovoltaic analysis of fabricated dsscs based on natural colorants

• Main Authors: Devi, M. (Author), Saini, R.K (Author), Shrivastava, S. (Author)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Rasayan Journal of Chemistry, c/o Dr. Pratima Sharma 2021
• Subjects: DSSCs; Natural Dyes; Optical Band Gap; Redox Electrolytes
• Online Access: View Fulltext in Publisher

 The dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) had been made using naturally extracted colorant from flowers of red Bougainvillea, Nerium Oleander, and Tecoma stans as sensitizers. The fabrication of the device with a thin film of TiO2 nanoparticles as photoanode was applied on fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) glass plate. The redox electrolytes containing iodine with iodide ions were used e.g., NaI/KI with iodine. The UV-Vis absorption spectrum of natural colorant showed peaks due to the n→π* and π→π* transitions in the visible range. The optical band gap also calculated using Tauc’s relation to natural dyes. The solar cell properties of the sensitization activity of dye were determined in terms of the current-voltage curve (I-V curve), Voc (open-circuit voltage), Isc (short circuit current), FF (fill factor), and ƞ (efficiency). The Voc was obtained in range 0.132 to 0.554 V while short circuit current density (Jsc) was found in range 3.22 to 15.22 mA/cm2. The efficiency of fabricated solar cells was obtained in the range of 0.300 to 0.685. The easy fabrication, economical cost, and extensive accessibility of natural colorants exhibited promising alternatives to synthetic dyes in DSSCs. © 2021, Rasayan Journal of Chemistry, c/o Dr. Pratima Sharma. All rights reserved.