Design and fabrication of TiO2-based dye sensitized solar cells using plant-derived organic dyes

Asfaw, Gabriel Gashahun; Benti, Natei Ermias; Desta, Mekonnen Abebayehu; Mekonnen, Yedilfana Setarge

doi:10.1063/5.0153639

Design and fabrication of TiO₂-based dye sensitized solar cells using plant-derived organic dyes

Journal Article · Fri Jul 14 00:00:00 EDT 2023 · AIP Advances

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0153639· OSTI ID:2425410

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College of Natural and Computational Science, Addis Ababa (Ethiopia)

The utilization of solar energy, an abundant and renewable resource, shows great promise. Various technologies have been employed to capture this vast energy potential. In this study, the effectiveness of natural dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) was explored through experimental and computational methods. Organic dyes derived from specific plant species were examined, with a solvent mixture of ethanol, methanol, and tetrahydrofuran used for extraction. A UV–vis spectrophotometer was utilized to measure the sensitizers’ optical characteristics. The study employed density functional theory (DFT), implemented in Gaussian 09 W software, to perform computational calculations. The B3LYP method and a basis set of 6-31G++(d,p) were chosen for optimizing the geometries and energetics of dye molecules. The DFT results indicated that the dye molecules had a bandgap in the range of 2.16–2.38 eV. The photochemical performance of all four fabricated DSSC-based devices was evaluated to be between 0.33% and 1.04%, and the Euryops pectinatus sensitizer demonstrated the highest efficiency of 1.04% among the studied sensitizers.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States). Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC)

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0012704

OSTI ID:: 2425410

Journal Information:: AIP Advances, Journal Name: AIP Advances Journal Issue: 7 Vol. 13; ISSN 2158-3226

Publisher:: American Institute of Physics (AIP)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Figures / Tables (12)

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Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
Computational methods
Density functional theory
Dye sensitized solar cell
Electrolytes
Optical efficiency
Organic dyes
Renewable energy
Solar energy
UV-visible spectrophotometer