Effect of Natural Dye Photosensitizer from Mangosteen Pericarp, Purple Grape Peel and Violet Bougainvillea Petal on Solid-State Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell

Abstract

Hybrid solar cells are a promising potential replacement for inorganic semiconductor-based solar cells. This work focused on solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells fabricated using grown ZnO nanorods and natural dyes extracted from Garcinia mangostana l. pericarp (GMP), Vitis vinifera peel (VVP) and Violet bougainvillea sp. petals (VBP), which were used as a photosensitizer. The zinc oxide nanorod was successfully grown via the hydrothermal method, with an average diameter of ~76.7 nm. The absorption spectra of GMP, VVP and VBP showed a broad absorption spectrum from 400 nm to 700 nm. The GMP exhibited the lowest energy gap (1.82 eV) compared to VVP and VBP. The solid-state dye-sensitized solar cell's zinc oxide nanorod fabricated using natural dye photosensitizers showed that GMP contributed the highest power conversion efficiency of 0.72%.