Thymus schimperi Ronniger plant flower extract dye-sensitized solar cells

Abstract

The demand for energy is greatly increasing due to the world’s population growth and technological advancement. Natural dye-sensitized solar cells are attracting research as an alternative and renewable energy source due to their simple preparation technique, availability, cost effectiveness and environmental friendliness. In the present work, we have successfully fabricated dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) from Thymus schimperi Ronniger plant flowers for the first time. The solvents used for extraction of the flower dye were deionized water and its mixture with ethanol. The T. schimperi Ronniger flower extract dye solutions and sensitized photoanodes were characterized by Fourier transform infrared and ultraviolet–visible techniques. The crystallinity of TiO2 films was analyzed by x-ray diffraction, and the films showed pure anatase phase behavior. The photoelectrochemical solar cell performance parameters, such as short circuit current density, open circuit voltage, fill factor and efficiency, were evaluated from current density–voltage measurements using a Keithley 2450 source meter. DSSCs sensitized with dye solution extracted by a mixture of water and ethanol showed better performance (1.37%) than those sensitized with dye solution extracted by deionized water alone (1.02%).