Potential of Betanin Natural Dye for Solar Cells Application

Abstract Background: A photovoltaic cell, or solar cell, is an electronic component which, exposed to light, produces electricity thanks to the photovoltaic effect. Organic photovoltaic cells are photovoltaic cells of which at least the active layer consists of organic molecules. It has a yield of at least 15%. The future prospects of the research for solar cells application has required for the development in the field.Main body: Dye-sensitized solar cells are considered to be promising candidates for low-cost solar energy harvesting using sustainable and environmentally friendly materials. In general, solar cells sensitized to dyes consist of three parts: TiO2 sensitized to the photoanode dye with porous film on a transparent conductive glass, an electrolyte solution penetrating through the TiO2 anode film, and the conductive oxide transparent platinum glass as counter electrode.Conclusion: In this work, betanin dye was extracted from mature red fruits of Opuntia ficus indica and purified with fractional crystallization protocol using an 8:2 (v/v) ratio of ethyl acetate/ethanol. TiO2_films with different thickness values have been prepared CV and US sensitization of TiO2_films using betanin dye prove an enhancement on the uniformity distribution of the dye on the film in case of US method. Emission spectra of Dye_TiO2 films have been measured and show a hyperchromic shift of the emission intensity with the increase of the thickness due to the augmentation of betanin content. A comparison between the photovoltaic properties of prepared betanin_DSSC and N719 dye_DSSC reveals that betanin dye could be successfully proposed as a sensitizing dye in solar cell applications.