Effect of dye extracting solvents and sensitization time on photovoltaic performance of natural dye sensitized solar cells

In this study, natural dye sensitizer based solar cells were successfully fabricated and photovoltaic performance was measured. Sensitizer (turmeric) sources, dye extraction process, and photoanode sensitization time of the fabricated cells were analyzed and optimized. Dry turmeric, verdant turmeric, and powder turmeric were used as dye sources. Five distinct types of solvents were used for extraction of natural dye from turmeric. Dyes were characterized by UV-Vis spectrophotometric analysis. The extracted turmeric dye was used as a sensitizer in the dye sensitized solar cell's (DSSC) photoanode assembly. Nano-crystalline TiO₂ was used as a film coating semiconductor material of the photoanode. TiO₂ films on ITO glass substrate were prepared by simple doctor blade technique. The influence of the different parameters V_OC, J_SC, power density, FF, and η% on the photovoltaic characteristics of DSSCs was analyzed. The best energy conversion performance was obtained for 2 h adsorption time of dye on TiO₂ nano-porous surface with ethanol extracted dye from dry turmeric.