A novel idea of using dyes extracted from the leaves of Prosopis juliflora in dye – Sensitized solar cells

Abstract

As a step of environmental protection by waste management, fresh and dried leaves of Prosopis juliflora were utilised in preparing natural dyes with ethanol and acetone as solvents and were made use as sensitizers in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSC). Four dyes were taken in total, UV–Vis and FTIR spectroscopic studies were performed for the prepared dye sensitizers. J-V Characterization study was carried out for the fabricated cells and important parameters like Short-circuit current (J sc ), open-circuit voltage (V oc ), fill-factor (FF) and photo-conversion efficiency were determined. It was seen that the cell with dye extracted from dried leaves using acetone as solvent showed the highest photo-conversion efficiency of 0.322 % among the four cells fabricated. While the cells prepared with the fresh leaves showed an efficiency of 0.017 % and 0.225 % with ethanol and acetone respectively and the cell with the dye taken from the dried leaves using ethanol solvent exhibited an efficiency of 0.058 %. • DSSCs made-up with one of the most dangerous invasive species - Prosopis juliflora . • Ethanol & acetone were used in obtaining dyes from fresh & dried leaves of Prosopis . • Prosopis is being reported for the first time in DSSC with 0.3 % efficiency. • Recorded higher efficiency than many DSSCs made with dyes extracted from leaves. • Effect of this invasive tree in many countries can be reduced by using them in DSSC.