Pomegranate leaves and mulberry fruit as natural sensitizers for dye-sensitized solar cells

Journal Article · Fri Oct 15 00:00:00 EDT 2010 · Solar Energy

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/J.SOLENER.2010.07.009· OSTI ID:21350414

Chang, Ho; Lo, Yu-Jen ^[1]

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1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Taipei University of Technology (China)

This study employs chlorophyll extract from pomegranate leaf and anthocyanin extract from mulberry fruit as the natural dyes for a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC). A self-developed nanofluid synthesis system is employed to prepare TiO{sub 2} nanofluid with an average particle size of 25 nm. Electrophoresis deposition was performed to deposit TiO{sub 2} nanoparticles on the indium tin oxide (ITO) conductive glass, forming a TiO{sub 2} thin film with the thickness of 11 {mu}m. Furthermore, this TiO{sub 2} thin film was sintered at 450 C to enhance the thin film compactness. Sputtering was used to prepare counter electrode by depositing Pt thin film on FTO glass at a thickness of 20 nm. The electrodes, electrolyte (I{sub 3}{sup -}), and dyes were assembled into a cell module and illuminated by a light source simulating AM 1.5 with a light strength of 100 mW/cm{sup 2} to measure the photoelectric conversion efficiency of the prepared DSSCs. According to experimental results, the conversion efficiency of the DSSCs prepared by chlorophyll dyes from pomegranate leaf extract is 0.597%, with open-circuit voltage (V{sub OC}) of 0.56 V, short-circuit current density (J{sub SC}) of 2.05 mA/cm{sup 2}, and fill factor (FF) of 0.52. The conversion efficiency of the DSSCs prepared by anthocyanin dyes from mulberry extract is 0.548%, with V{sub OC} of 0.555 V and J{sub SC} of 1.89 mA/cm{sup 2} and FF of 0.53. The conversion efficiency is 0.722% for chlorophyll and anthocyanin as the dye mixture, with V{sub OC} of 0.53 V, J{sub SC} of 2.8 mA/cm{sup 2}, and FF of 0.49. (author)

• OSTI ID: 21350414
• Journal Information: Solar Energy, Vol. 84, Issue 10; Other Information: Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved; ISSN 0038-092X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
CHLOROPHYLL
SOLAR CELLS
TITANIUM OXIDES
THIN FILMS
CYANINE DYES
FRUITS
CONVERSION
EFFICIENCY
LEAVES
SENSITIZERS
TIN OXIDES
VISIBLE RADIATION
INDIUM OXIDES
FILL FACTORS
PARTICLE SIZE
GLASS
MIXTURES
CURRENT DENSITY
ELECTRIC POTENTIAL
ELECTRIC CURRENTS
DEPOSITION
ELECTRODES
ELECTROPHORESIS
NANOSTRUCTURES
PARTICLES
SPUTTERING
SYNTHESIS
TEMPERATURE RANGE 0400-1000 K
Dye-sensitized solar cells
Anthocyanin