The aim of this research can be divided into two stages. The first stage is to
synthesize and find a simple and less expensive method to produce titanium dioxide
nanostructures with optimum properties that can be used in the construction of lowcost, nanoparticle-based solar cells as a replacement for custom silicon solar cells. The
second stage is to determine the effect of natural dyes on the performance and
efficiency of TiO2
nano-structure dye synthesized solar cells (TiO2
DSSC) via spin
coating. In order to improve and enhance the performance and efficiency of dye solar
cells, thin film TiO2
nanostructure was synthesized using the sol-gel process, which is
simple and inexpensive. Afterward, different natural dies were introduced in the
fabrication process over the TiO2
layer also via spin coating. The function of the dye is
to confine a sufficient amount of light, for optimum performance and power conversion
efficiency. In the last fabrication step, graphite contacts were evaporated on the top dye
layer. The I-V characteristics of the different dyes were studied and the structural
properties of the TiO2
nanostructures were investigated through an X-Ray Diffraction
(XRD) pattern. The TiO2
nanoparticles’ morphology and particle size were determined
by a scanning electron microscope (SEM), while the optical band gap energy was
found by employing UV-VIS-NIR diffuse absorption spectroscopy. Three types of
natural dye were used which were Roselle, curcumin, and black tea and their
conversion efficiencies were 8.46, 6.94, and 6.33 respectively, which is considered
acceptable compared to the results obtained by other researchers.
Keywords: Band gap, Curcumin, Diffraction, Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells, Electrical properties, Fill factor, FTO, Hibiscus, Morphology, Nanostructures, Natural dyes.
