UV-Visible Spectrophotometric and Photochemical Characterization of Safranine–Fructose–Sodium Lauryl Sulphate System in Photogalvanic Cell

Abstract

The solar energy is the mother of all renewable energy resources except nuclear energy. The conversion of solar energy into electrical energy is the interest of research area because electrical energy can be converted into nearly all forms of energy as per requirement. The aim of this paper is to study the spectral behavior of safranine–fructose–sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS) system in alkaline medium, photogalvanic effect of the same system and correlate the relationship between concentration of safranine, fructose, alkali and SLS corresponding to maximum absorbance and electrical output obtained by spectral and photogalvanic study, respectively. To achieve our objective, the absorbance spectra of fixed concentration of safranine solution in presence of different concentration of fructose, NaOH and SLS have been recorded, by varying concentration one of these at a time. It was observed that the presence of alkali and fructose only increased the absorbance value whereas SLS increases both absorbance and λmax value of safranine. This indicates stable safranine–SLS complex (interaction) formation. The photogalvanic effects of the cell containing safranine as photosensitizer, fructose as a reductant with and without SLS as surfactant systems have also been studied using Pt as a working electrode under the influence of artificial light. In presence of SLS, an increase the electrical output of the cells was observed, indicating a strong molecular interaction of safranine-fructose mixed solution with SLS in alkaline medium at laboratory temperature. Hence, the SLS has played a significant role in the enhancement of electrical output of safranine-fructose system. The resultant concentrations of safranine, fructose, alkali and SLS from both studies are strongly supported to each other corresponding maximum absorbance and electrical output value. Therefore, present study may be helpful to understand the reasons for increasing in electrical output of dye-reductant system in presence of surfactant in the photogalvanic cell.