International Journal of
Physical Sciences

  • Abbreviation: Int. J. Phys. Sci.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 1992-1950
  • DOI: 10.5897/IJPS
  • Start Year: 2006
  • Published Articles: 2574

Full Length Research Paper

Dye sensitized solar cell using natural dyes extracted from red leave onion

Kelvin Alaba Aduloju* and Mohamed Basiru Shitta      
Department of Physics, University of Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria.  
Email: [email protected]

  •  Accepted: 13 January 2012
  •  Published: 30 January 2012

Abstract

Extracts from red leave onion (Allium cepa) were used as natural sensitizers of a wide band-gap semiconductor (TiO2) in photoelectrochemical solar cells. The natural dye, adsorbed onto the semiconductor surface, absorbs visible light and promotes electron transfer across the dye/semiconductor interface. Photogenerated current density and voltage as high as 0.85 mAm-2 and 0.65 mV, respectively were obtained and effective energy conversion efficiency of 0.29% was achieved. These simple and cheap techniques of cell preparation therefore open up a perspective of commercial feasibility for inexpensive and environmentally friendly dye cells.

 

Key words: Allium cepa, band-gap, photoelectrochemical solar cell, natural dye, semiconductor.