Fabrication of Solid State Dye Sensitized Solar Cell Using Red Sandalwood as Natural Sensitizer
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Date
2018
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Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka
Abstract
Commercially available dye-sensitized solar cells contain synthetic-metal centered
dyes as a sensitizer. Natural dyes obtained from plants are a cheaper alternative for
high cost synthetic dyes. The Main objective of this research is extraction of a
natural dye which has wide availability with minimal chemical procedure to reduce
cost of production and toxicity. The study intended in developing a solid-state-dyesensitized solar cell by sandwiching red-sandalwood pigments in between porous
TiO2 and CuI films.Ti02 films were prepared on conducting glass substrates by
using two different methods to obtain two different thicknesses and their
morphologies were studied. According to the absorption spectra, presence of
multiple layers increase the intensity of absorption of thicker (>10 p,m) TiO2 than
thinner (<10 [tm) TiO2 film. Optical microscopic images of different TiO2 films
show that thicker (>10 p.m) TiO2 film has no cracks present. Due to the absence of
cracks in thicker TiO2 film, solid electrolyte cannot reach to glass substrate and
therefore, no short current occurs. Red-sandalwood dye extracted to three different
solvents (ethanol, acetone, acetonitrile) using soxhlet extraction and rotary
evaporation. In each solvent three major electron transitions observe for redsandalwood extractions. Therefore, these three solvents are acceptable for extraction
of red-sandalwood to use as sensitizer. A significant red shift in the absorption
spectrum can be observed after chelating red-sandalwood pigments with TiO2
compare to that of dye in solutions. Formation of red sandalwood-Ti complex may
be the reason for the observed red shift in the absorption spectrum. The bond
formation between TiO2 and natural red-sandalwood pigments was confirmed by
FTIR measurements. The deposition of hole-transfer (CuI) was eliminated problems
encounter with the liquid electrolyte in photovoltaic cells. The morphology of CuI
layer was studied. This demonstrates that triethylamine-hydrothiocyanate can
control the formation of crystals of CuI by acting as a surfactant.
Key words: Red-sandalwood, Solid-state dye sensitized solar cell, Ti02, Soxhlet extraction
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Keywords
Materials Sciences, Mineral Sciences