Enhancing the optical absorption of anthocyanins for dye-sensitized solar cells

Abstract

This work presents our investigation on natural dyes extracted from the skin of Eggplant, Red Cabbage, and Red Onion as sensitizers for fabrication of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) and the conditions that could maximize their performance. We investigated the influence of various factors in the extraction process, such as various solvents, influence of acidification, or basification on the extraction solution, solution concentration on UV-VIS patterns absorption spectra of the anthocyanins, and the influence of these parameters on the performance of DSSCs. It was found that we could considerably enhance the optical absorptivity of natural sensitizers and consequently the performance of DSSCs. Overall performance of natural dyes as sensitizers in DSSCs was evaluated in terms of short circuit current and open circuit voltage. Short circuit photocurrent densities (JSC) up to 6.14 mA/cm2, and open circuit voltage (VOC) ranging from 0.29 to 0.66 V, were obtained from the natural sensitizers.