Microwave radiation induced performance modifications of dye-sensitized solar cells

Abstract

Natural dye from Argemone mexicana flower is used as the photosensitizer for fabricating dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The cells were fabricated using TiO2 as the semiconducting layer deposited on the transparent fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) conductive glass. Microwave processing is used for annealing the TiO2-coated FTO glass. The UV–Vis absorption spectra, FTIR and Raman Spectral studies were carried out to check the suitability of the dyes. The I–V characteristic curves of all the fabricated DSSCs were measured and analyzed. The photovoltaic parameters, short-circuit current (I sc), open-circuit voltage (V oc), fill factor (FF) and efficiency (η) of microwave annealed DSSCs are calculated and reported in this paper. Optimum values were observed for solar cells prepared with blocking layer and irradiated with microwave for 7 min, short-circuit current = 2.71 mA, open-circuit voltage = 0.47 mV, fill factor=0.54 and efficiency = 0.69.