Effect of Harum Manis mango as natural photosensitizer at different extracting temperature on performance of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs)

Abstract

Dye-sensitized solar cells containing yellow curcumin of Harum Manis mango were extracted in water and ethanol solvent and fabricated at different temperatures to find the optimum condition with the best performance solar cell. Harum Manis mango was studied as an alternative sensitizer, that anchored to a nanoparticle titanium dioxide scaffold, due to its availability in native Malaysia climate. The absorption spectrum of each dye was measured using ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy. The absorption spectrum shows an absorption peak at 450nm in water and a broader absorption in the ethanol. The conversion efficiency achieved by dyes extracted in water and ethanol solvent at room temperature is about 0.03% and 0.51%. When temperature parameter is varied (room temperature, 50°C, 75°C, and 100°C), dye extracted in water solvent attains its highest efficiency of about 0.60% and 0.32% in ethanol at 50°C. In fact, 50°C extracting temperature in water solvent shows as an optimum condition for Harum Manis mango to achieve its best performance. This paper reveals detailed optimization of fabrication process at different extracting temperatures for Harum Manis mango photosensitizer based solar cells which can be used as an environmental friendly, low cost alternative system especially for further research in DSSCs technology.