Fabrication and characterization of dye-sensitized solar cells based on natural plants

Highlights: • The study has found a better natural dye and the performance of the dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) reached 0.162% with short-circuit photocurrent density (J_sc) of 0.621 mA/cm², open circuit voltage (V_oc) of 0.541 V and fill factor (FF) of 0.48. • Meanwhile, the influence of extraction time on the performance was further studied, and suggested that the optimal extraction time of dyes is 24 h. • It can further improve performance of DSSCs on power conversion efficiency. In this paper, the dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) were fabricated based on natural dyes extracting from carrot, mulberry, purple cabbage, potato, and grapes. The ultraviolet-visible spectra suggested purple cabbage and mulberry possess better absorption at 300–550 nm. The solar cells using purple cabbage as dye achieved a conversion efficiency of 0.162% with short-circuit photocurrent density (J_sc) of 0.621 mA/cm², open circuit voltage (V_oc) of 0.541 V and fill factor (FF) of 0.484. The Infrared spectra revealed the bond of OH, CC, CO, CH were existed in purple cabbage. Finally, the optimal extraction time of dyes is also presented.