A Green Approach to Natural Dyes in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Renewable Energy Technologies
• Electrochemistry

Background:

• Conventional solar cells often rely on non-eco-friendly materials.
• There is a need for sustainable and cost-effective alternatives in solar energy.
• Natural dyes offer a promising avenue for green energy solutions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate natural dyes from blueberries and mulberries as sensitizers for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs).
• To develop a fully green DSSC device using sustainable components.
• To assess the performance of natural dye-sensitized solar cells in different environments.

Main Methods:

• Extraction of natural dyes from blueberries and mulberries.
• Fabrication of DSSCs using TiO2 photoanodes, natural dye sensitizers, eco-friendly electrolytes, and green counter-electrodes (graphite pencil, candle soot).
• Performance testing of the fabricated DSSCs under outdoor and indoor conditions.

Main Results:

• Mulberry dye demonstrated superior performance as a sensitizer compared to blueberry dye.
• The optimized mulberry dye-sensitized solar cell achieved an output power of 13.79 µW (outdoor) and 0.122 µW (indoor).
• The study successfully demonstrated a green approach to DSSC fabrication using readily available materials.

Conclusions:

• Natural dyes from food ingredients like mulberries are feasible sensitizers for DSSCs.
• The developed green DSSCs show potential for applications in educational kits and technology development.
• This research contributes to advancing sustainable energy technologies through eco-friendly materials.