Studies of the micellar effect on photogalvanics: Solar energy conversion and storage-EDTA-safranine O-DSS system

Abstract

The studies of the micellar effect on photogalvanics was done for solar energy conversion and storage in photogalvanic cell containing dioctyl sodium sulphosuccinate as anionic micellar species, EDTA as reductant and safranine O as photosensitizer. The photopotential and photocurrent generated were 800.0 mV and 65.0 µA respectively. The observed conversion efficiency was 0.2532 per cent, the fill factor was 0.38 and the maximum power of the cell was 52.0 µW whereas the power at power point of the photogalvanic cell was 26.34 µW. The rate of initial generation of current was 37.5 µA min−1. The photogalvanic cell can be used for 80.0 minutes in the dark. The effects of different parameters on the electrical output of the photogalvanic cell were observed and a mechanism has also been proposed for the generation of photocurrent in the photogalvanic cell. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.