Extremely robust photocurrent generation of titanium dioxide photoanodes bio-sensitized with recombinant microalgal light-harvesting proteins

Bio-dyes for light harvesting in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) have the advantage of being environmentally-friendly, non-toxic alternatives, which can be produced in a sustainable fashion. Free photosynthetic pigments are unstable in the presence of light and oxygen, a situation which can hardly be avoided during the operation of DSSCs, especially in large-scale applications. We therefore investigated the recombinant light-harvesting protein LHCBM6, which naturally occurs in the photosynthetic apparatus of the green microalga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii as a bio-dye in DSSCs. Photocurrent densities of up to 0.87 and 0.94 mA·cm^-2 were determined for the DSSCs and solar energy to electricity conversion efficiencies (η) reached about 0.3% (100 mW·cm^-2; AM 1.5 G filter applied). Importantly, we observed an unprecedented stability of LHCII-based DSSCs within long DSSC operation times of at least 7 days in continuous light and show that operation times are restricted by electrolyte decomposition rather than reduced dye performance, as could be demonstrated by DSSC reactivation following re-supplementation with fresh electrolyte. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study analysing bio-dye sensitized DSSCs over such long periods, which revealed that during illumination an activation of the DSSCs occurs.