Performance of the dye-sensitized quasi-solid state solar cell with combined anthocyanin-ruthenium photosensitizer

This work contributes to combining 12.2 mM purified anthocyanin of cyanidin-3-glucoside extracted from Indonesian black rice as the natural pigment with a ruthenium photosensitizer (1 : 1) in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) in liquid and quasi solid-state electrolytes. The findings essentially highlight the spectroscopic and electron transfer mechanism for the future trend of D-π-A natural pigment modification. The complete pigment comparison, dye absorbance, dye adsorption onto the semiconductor, dye electronic properties, electron excitation, and regeneration were investigated using spectroscopic methods. Cells employ TiO₂ mesoporous nanoparticles (19.18 nm grain size, 50.99 m² g^-1 surface area, 87.8% anatase 12.2% rutile, 10.58 μm thickness, 3.18 eV band gap) sensitized by anthocyanin-N719 photosensitizer (12.2 mM) with the I^-/I₃ ^- electrolyte (0.1 M lithium iodide/0.05 M iodine/0.6 M 1-buty-3-methylimidazolium iodide/0.5 M 4-tert-butylpyridine/polyethylene oxide M _w = 1 × 10⁶) - Pt film. As a result, the quasi-solid state with combined anthocyanin-ruthenium dye-sensitized solar cell (3.51%) is achieved and reported for the first time. The work also achieved the highest efficiency of the anthocyanin dye-sensitized quasi-solid state solar cells of 2.65%. The insight on how the combined anthocyanin-N719 and the quasi-solid state electrolytes exhibit better performances will be further discussed.