A photoelectrochemical biofuel cell sensitized by (Ru(H₂dcbpy)₃)Cl₂ on TiO₂ film

(Ru(H₂dcbpy)₃)Cl₂ (H₂dcbpy = 2,2′-bipyridine-4,4′-dicarboxylic acid) has been investigated as a dye for the titanium dioxide (TiO₂) film electrode to construct a new one-compartment photoelectrochemical biofuel cell. Light-harvesting capacity of the dye has been evaluated by UV-vis absorption spectra, indicating that absorption peak of the dye is 495 nm. Photovoltaic measurement has shown that maximum incident photon-to-collected electron conversion efficiency is 7.50 % at 490 nm through spectral range of 400-800 nm, which is in agreement with the result of UV-vis absorption spectra. From current-voltage curve open-circuit voltage, short-circuit current density, maximum power density and overall energy conversion efficiency have been observed to be 688 mV, 522 μA/cm², 124 μW/cm² and 0.124 %, respectively. These results reveal that (Ru(H₂dcbpy)₃)Cl₂ dye has good photochemical and photoelectrochemical properties. (author)