Natural dyes adsorbed on nanocrystalline TiO2 for photovoltaic applications

摘要

We investigated the optical and photovoltaic performance of a nanocrystalline TiO2 sensitized with chlorin dye. Chlorin is a natural dye extracted from bahama grass. The chlorin-stained titanium dioxide was found to have a reduced band gap energy and could absorb light beyond the ultraviolet region. Avaspec 2.1 spectrophotometer was used to obtain the optical absorption spectrum, while the well-known Tauc model was employed to determine the optical band gap. A dye sensitized solar cell fabricated with the chlorin-doped TiO2 showed a photo-conversion efficiency of 1.008%.