Photovoltaic Properties of Some African Dyes
1Department of Physics, University of Ado-Ekiti, Ado-Ekiti (Nigeria).
2Electrical Electronics Engineering Department, Federal University of Technology, P.M.B. 704, Akure (Nigeria).
3Department of Industrial Chemistry, Federal University of Technology, P.M.B. 704, Akure (Nigeria)
DOI : http://dx.doi.org/10.13005/msri/050205
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Four natural dyes obtained from Bixa orellana, Pterocarpus erinaceus, Sorghum candatum, and Zingber officinale, were used as dye-sensitizers in TiO2 coated plate of a dye sensitized solar cell. The natural dyes actually act as sensitizers. The movement of the electrons across the conduction band of TiO2 electrode produced a potential difference across the plates with an open circuit voltage (Voc) range from 0.2 -0.6 V, and photocurrent 1.7mA recorded. At the introduction of a series resistor of 10 W, the short-circuit voltage and current ranging from 0.18 - 0.56V and 0.06-0.13 mA respectively were obtained for the dyes. The use of mordant (CuSO4) increases the active period of the dyes for more detail measurements. Dye from Bixa orellana gave the best result.
KEYWORDS:Light photons; Mordant; Natural dyes; open-circuit; photocurrent
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763 Accepted on: 4 Apr 2008
