Fabrication and performance evaluation of dye-sensitized solar cell integrated with natural dye from Strobilanthes cusia under different counter-electrode materials

Abstract

The ruthenium-based dye and platinum (pt) are the most common materials used as photosensitizer and counter electrode (CE), respectively, in the production of the dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC), the third generation of photovoltaic technologies. However, their expensive cost, the complexity and toxicity of ruthenium dye, and the scarcity of pt’s sources preclude their use in the DSSC. Thus, this has sparked much interest in integrating natural dyes such as chlorophylls, the predominant pigments found in nature and responsible for photosynthesis, and exploring platinum-free CE in developing DSSC. This research investigated the natural dye from Strobilanthes cusia (SC) and evaluated the performance output under the three various counter electrode materials: a. fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) CE; b. graphite/FTO CE; and c. pt/FTO CE. Hence, from this study’s results, it was found that the SC dye is primarily composed of Chl-a with 64.5345 ± 0.4226 μg/ml followed by Chl-b with 41.4341 ± 0.2636 μg/ml. While in the photovoltaic performance of the SC dye-based DSSC the graphite/FTO CE showed higher photoelectric output having an open-circuit voltage (Voc) of 306.35 mV, short circuit current (Isc) of 15.55 μA, ff = 0.462, maximum power (PMAX) of 0.734 μW/cm2 and an efficiency (η) of 0.0385%. For the pt/FTO CE, the values obtained were Voc = 283.39 mV, Isc = 9.43 μA, ff = 0.252, PMAX = 0.225 μW/cm2 and η = 0.0118%, and last, for FTO CE, Voc = 192.62 mV, Isc = 2.94 μA, ff = 0.203, PMAX = 0.0128 μW/cm2, and η = 0.00067%. It can be concluded that graphite presents feasible potential as an alternative to platinum due to its affordable cost and performance output.