DYE-SENSITIZED SOLAR CELLS USING A COCKTAIL OF SYNTHETIC (EOSIN Y) AND NATURAL (BEETROOT, POMEGRANATE, AND KUMKUM) DYES

Abstract

For the purpose of the study, dye extracts were prepared from natural sources like beetroot, pomegranate, kumkum, and separately mixed with Eosin Y dye. TiO2 nanoparticles were coated over the fluorine-doped tinoxide (FTO) by doctor blade technique, and a counter cathode was prepared by coating the graphene over FTO film. A sandwich-type solar cell was made and the photovoltaic performance measured using Keithley Electrometer 6517B with a Xenon lamp of 100 mW/cm2 as solar simulator. Among the cocktail of dyes, solar cells with beetroot and Eosin Y dye exhibited the highest efficiency of 0.3%. The conversion efficiency of solar cell with pomegranate and Eosin Y was 0.1%, while that of the cells with kumkum and Eosin Y was 0.2%.