Study of Chromophores Potential in Binahong Leaf Extracts for Solar Cell Development

Abstract

Solar cell material from organic chromophores is interesting to develop because it has adjustable electronic and optical properties, the material is relatively cheap, the manufacturing method is simple, environmentally friendly, and easy to recycle. This research aims to study the potential of leaf extract from binahong as a raw material for the development of organic solar cells in terms of its chromophore. The study was carried out through an analysis of leaf extracts from binahong with red stems and leaf extracts from binahong with green stems with the help of a UV-VIS spectrophotometer instrument and a Shimadzu LCMS – 8040 LC/MS instrument. The compounds identified from each extract through their LCMS chromatograms were then characterized computationally using gamess applications with the DFT method and 6.31G* basis set. The results showed that the leaf extract from binahong with red stems had a different color and band gap than the leaf extract from binahong with green stems. This is because the red-stemmed binahong leaf extract has an excess of 3 compounds, namely kaempferol-3-(6"-malonyl glucoside), prodelphinidin B1, and prodelphinidin C2. The LCMS chromatogram showed that there were 55 bioactive compounds identified in the leaf extract from binahong with red stems and 52 compounds identified in the leaf extract from binahong with green stems. Of all these compounds, the majority, namely 44 compounds in the leaf extract from binahong leaves with red stems and 42 compounds in the leaf extract from binahong with green stems, are chromophores that have the potential to be used as raw materials for developing solar cells.