Natural Dyes from Mortiño (Vaccinium floribundum) as Sensitizers in Solar Cells

Miguel A. Taco-Ugsha,Patricio J. Espinoza-Montero,Cristian P. Santacruz

doi:10.3390/en13040785

Miguel A. Taco-Ugsha, Patricio J. Espinoza-Montero + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/en13040785

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Abstract

Photovoltaic energy presents environmental advantages; however, these advantages are limited by the cost of manufacturing solar cells and in many cases, scarce or dangerous materials are incorporated. Therefore, the use of natural dyes from mortiño (Vaccinium floribundum) as sensitizers in solar cells is proposed. The dyes were extracted by maceration in acidified methanol (HCl, citric acid and trifluoroacetic acid TFA) and were characterized by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), Thin-Layer Chromatography (TLC) and spectrometric methods (UV-Vis, IR and MS-MALDI). The construction and characterization of cells were in standard conditions. The study confirms that pigments in mortiño are flavonoids of the anthocyanidin group as: cyanidin-3-galactoside, and cyanidin-3-arabinoside. The efficiency of solar cells was between 0.18–0.26%; the extraction with TFA in methanol leads to the best performance. Although they have low power conversion efficiency, mortiño dyes could be an alternative to artificial sensitizers for solar cell technologies because they are harmless and abundant substances.

Highlights

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA) [1], the energy generation implicates 68% of global greenhouse gases (GHG), where the principal source corresponds to non-renewable resources.Clean energies like solar energy have been developed to decrease GHG emissions
Have emerged as an alternative to conventionally solar cells because they offer some advantages: (a) Low-light performance, Dye Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSC) works in a wide array of lighting conditions, without suffering from angular dependence of sunlight or light. (b) Optimized performance, DSSC materials and dyes can be tuned for optimization in a variety of lighting conditions making it suitable for indoor applications and outdoor applications. (c) Higher temperature performance, DSSC efficiency does not degrade with increased temperature, meaning it possible to continue to efficiently harvest energy in direct sunlight. (d) Low energy manufacturing process, DSSC are manufactured using low-energy consumption, high-efficiency, and roll-to-roll manufacturing technique. (e) Ecologically friendly, DSSC
Dyes extracted from mortiño fruits were used as sensitizers in DSSC and were characterized by chromatography (HPLC and Thin-Layer Chromatography (TLC)), FT-IR spectroscopy and MALDI mass spectrometry analysis

Summary

Introduction

Clean energies like solar energy have been developed to decrease GHG emissions. Solar cells could incorporate scarce and hazardous materials [2]. (a) Low-light performance, DSSC works in a wide array of lighting conditions, without suffering from angular dependence of sunlight or light. (b) Optimized performance, DSSC materials and dyes can be tuned for optimization in a variety of lighting conditions making it suitable for indoor applications and outdoor applications. (e) Ecologically friendly, DSSC uses inexpensive and eco-friendly nano-materials without concern about shortage of resources. DSSC is produced on a thin film, flexible, robust, plastic substrate. (g) Versatile product integration, DSSC indoor modules are highly flexible, durable and lightweight [5,6,7]. Some disadvantages of the DSSC must be Energies 2020, 13, 785; doi:10.3390/en13040785 www.mdpi.com/journal/energies

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