Potential use of nanoclay in dye sensitized solar cell with natural dye

Abstract

The incorporation of clay in photoelectrode and electrolyte of dye-sensitizedsolar cell (DSSC) was scrutinized. Extracted red cabbage was found to be the best efficient natural dye in this study. The novel additives for natural dye, i.e. 4-chloro-2,5-difluorobenzoic acid and 4-(chloromethyl) benzoyl chloride alter the photovoltaic properties of DSSCs with the unchanged of overall conversion efficiency. The electrodes were prepared from both P25 TiO2/bentonite and sol-gel TiO2/bentonite composites with two king of bentonite, CTAB-modified bentonite and purified Na-bentonit. The CTAB modified bentonite is better to be incorporated with P25 while purified Na-bentonite reduces crack formation of thick sol-gel TiO2 and improve cell efficiency when its composite was applied on the top of transparent sol-gel TiO2 as a scattering layer. To contribute the energy barrier function of bentonite, the electrophoretic deposition (EPD) was selected besides doctor blading to improve the electronic contact between TiO2 and non-modified bentonite. However, it is too thick of stack bentonites that inhibit the function. Moreover, gel electrolyte prepared by the incorporation of clay particles in liquid electrolyte was studied. The CTAB Na-bentonite was compared to synthetic laponite in terms of photovoltaic properties and stability. Meanwhile, Na-bentonite, inability to solidifty to solidify electrolyte itself was applied to an areogel, the support of polymethyl acrylate simce clay acts as a solid part, and polymer acts as a liquid cage. The optimal clay and polymer content was determined to obtain the good gel that provides a good DSSC efficiency along with ease of DSSC fabrication.