Nanoengineering TiO2 for evaluating performance in dye sensitized solar cells with natural dyes

Mohd Jahir Khan; Ankesh Ahirwar; Vandana Sirotiya; Anshuman Rai; Sunita Varjani; Vandana Vinayak

doi:10.1039/D3RA02927A

Nanoengineering TiO₂ for evaluating performance in dye sensitized solar cells with natural dyes†

Mohd Jahir Khan,^a Ankesh Ahirwar,^a Vandana Sirotiya,^a Anshuman Rai,^bc Sunita Varjani^de and Vandana Vinayak

*^a

Author affiliations

* Corresponding authors

^a Diatom Nanoengineering and Metabolism Laboratory (DNM), School of Applied Science, Dr. Harisingh Gour Central University, Sagar, MP 470003, India
E-mail: kapilvinayak@gmail.com

^b School of Engineering, Department of Biotechnology, Maharishi Markendeshwar University Ambala, Haryana, India

^c State Forensic Science Laboratory, Haryana, Madhuban, India

^d School of Energy and Environment, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong

^e Sustainability Cluster, School of Engineering, University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Dehradun-248 007, Uttarakhand, India

Abstract

The current study employs nanoengineering diatom and TiO₂ NPs to form diatom-Si–TiO₂ nanoengineered structures to fabricate a dye sensitized solar cell (DSSC) (DsTnas-DSSC). This was characterized and spin coated on a Fluorine-doped Tin Oxide (FTO) anode plate. The counter cathode was prepared by spin coating graphene oxide on a FTO glass plate and using Lugol's iodine as an electrolyte. The power density of DsTnas-DSSC was estimated with different natural dyes in comparison to conventional photosensitive ruthenium dye. It was found that the natural dyes extracted from plants and microalgae show significant power efficiencies in DSSC. The percentage efficiency of maximum power densities (PD_max) of DsTnas-DSSC obtained with photosensitive dyes were 9.4% with synthetic ruthenium dye (control) and 7.19% > 4.08% > 0.72% > 0.58% > 0.061% from natural dyes found in Haematococcus pluvialis (astaxanthin) > Syzygium cumini (anthocyanin) > Rosa indica (anthocyanin) > Hibiscus rosa-sinensis (anthocyanin) > Beta vulgaris (betalains), respectively. Among all the natural dyes used, the PD_max for the control ruthenium dye was 6.164 mW m⁻² followed by the highest in astaxanthin natural dye from Haematococcus pluvialis (5.872 mW m⁻²). Overall, the use of natural dye DsTnas-DSSC makes the fuel cell low cost and an alternative to conventional expensive, metal and synthetic dyes.

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Article information

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/D3RA02927A
Article type: Paper
Submitted: 03 May 2023
Accepted: 17 Jul 2023
First published: 26 Jul 2023
This article is Open Access

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RSC Adv., 2023,13, 22630-22638

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Nanoengineering TiO₂ for evaluating performance in dye sensitized solar cells with natural dyes

M. J. Khan, A. Ahirwar, V. Sirotiya, A. Rai, S. Varjani and V. Vinayak, RSC Adv., 2023, 13, 22630 DOI: 10.1039/D3RA02927A

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