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Ramesh Kumar*
, Madhuri Prajapat and R.C Meena
Department of Chemistry, J.N.V. University, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India.
Corresponding Author E-mail:rameshgangla@gmail.com
Article Publishing History
Article Received on : 10 Sep 2024
Article Accepted on :
Article Published : 04 Feb 2025
A solar cell that is sensitive to dyes was created by combining Rhodamine B Dye with TiO2 as a nonmaterial. With t1/2 as the performance metric, it was determined that the dark-operating time of the Rhodamine B, EDTA, and TiO2 cell was 210.0 minutes. A number of factors were studied, including the following: pH, light intensity, reluctant concentration, dye concentration, time-dependent potential fluctuation, time-dependent photocurrent, and the influence of TiO2 dosage concentration. Additional research focused on the cell's I-V (current-voltage) characteristic. An efficiency of 0.781 and a fill factor of 0.289 were both within the realm of possibility.
KEYWORDS:Current - voltage; Photocurrent; Rhodamine B dye; Solar cell
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Copy the following to cite this article:Kumar R, Prajapat M, Meena R. C. Synthesis of Dye Sensitized Solar Cell Using Rhodamine B Dye and Study of Their Applications in Conversion Efficiency of Solar Cell into Electrical Energy. Orient J Chem 2025;41(1).
Kumar R, Prajapat M, Meena R. C. Synthesis of Dye Sensitized Solar Cell Using Rhodamine B Dye and Study of Their Applications in Conversion Efficiency of Solar Cell into Electrical Energy. Orient J Chem 2025;41(1). Available from: https://bit.ly/3CN5ieB
Introduction
A major concern to humanity today is the fast depletion of energy supplies caused by the rising consumption of fossil fuels. Renewable energy sources are growing in popularity, and solar power is among the most promising. Because it is a practical medium for converting solar energy, photochemical energy conversion is of interest to researchers. Photo galvanic solar cells are photo electrochemical devices that can generate and store solar energy all at once. Radial and Williams [1] observed the photo galvanic phenomenon for the first time in 1925 and Rabin witch continued to study it, and this phenomenon is the basis of photo galvanic cells.
The concept of using the photo-galvanic effect to convert and store solar energy was born out of researchers’ meticulous examination of the phenomena. Countless published investigations on photo galvanic cell systems provide credence to this notion. In photo galvanic cells, which are great examples of photoelecrochemical devices, it is normal practice to submerge the anode and cathode in an alkali medium containing a photosensitizer and reluctant.
Many substances, such as Bib Rich Red, Azure-B, Azure-A, Rose Bengal, Eosin, Brilliant Cresol Blue, Rhodamine-B, and many more, can be utilized as photo-sensitizers. As more instances, there are methyl violet [2], ethylene blue [3, 4], and others. Optimal electrical cell performance is affected by variables such light sensitizer concentration, reluctant concentration, and solution pH, according to a research review. These characteristics must be state-of-the-art for photo-galvanic cells to work more efficiently.
Additionally, the literature research shows that EDTA is a very safe, stable organic acid with a significant capacity for colour reduction. In light of these facts, the Rohdamine-EDTA combination has been utilised to enhance photo galvanic cell performance.
Materials And Methods
Materials Used
The following chemicals was used in the synthesis and performance of dye sensitized solar cell:
Table 1
S. No. Chemicals Specifications 1. Rhoda mine B Loba Chemie, Mumbai 2. EDTA Ases Chemical, Jodhpur 3. TiO2 Sisco Research Laboratories, Mumbai 4. Oxalic Acid Ranbaxy, Mumbai 5. Sodium hydroxide RFCL, New Delhi 6. Phenolphthalein Sisco Chem, MumbaiProperties of Dyes (Photosensitizes):
Rhodamine B
Chemical formula: C28H31ClN2O3
IUPAC Name: 9-(2-Carboxyphenyl)-6-(diethylamino)-N,N-diethyl-3H-xanthen-3-iminium-chloride
Molecular mass: 479.02 g mol-1
λmax: 554 nm
Structural formula:
Preparation of Solutions
All solutions, including dye solutions, M/100 EDTA, 1M NaOH, and 0.5M oxalic acid, were made with double-distilled water. Direct weighing was used to make synthetic dye stock solutions (M/100), which were then stored in colored containers to keep light out.
Experimental Set-Up of the Photo Galvanic Cell
An H-type glass tube was filled with a mixture of dye, surfactant, reluctant, and NaOH solutions, and it was blackened with black charcoal paper to shield it from sunlight. A saturated calomel electrode was situated at one end of the H-tube, while a lustrous Pt foil electrode (1.0 x 1.0 cm2) was situated at the other. The SCE functions as a counter electrode, while the platinum electrode serves as the active electrode. The system was initially maintained in a state of darkness until a stable potential was achieved. Subsequently, a Philips 200 W tungsten lamp was employed to illuminate the limb that contained the platinum electrode. The thermal radiation was eliminated by employing a water filter. The photochemical bleaching of the dye was examined using the potentiometric technique.
The current generated by the system was measured using a Nucon micrometer, and the potential was detected using a Systronics 335 digital pH meter. The current voltage characteristics were examined via incorporating an external load into the circuit of the photo galvanic cell configuration and a carbon pot.
Result and Discussions
Potential Changes Over Time
1 milliliter of M/1000 Dye (Rhodamine B), 5 milliliters of M/100 EDTA, 5 milliliters of TiO2, and 14 milliliters of doubly distilled water made up the 25 milliliter solution. In this experiment, a photogalvanic cell was used to investigate the fluctuation of the photo potential over time. After the photogalvanic cell’s potential stabilized, the platinum electrode was placed in the same light source. After reaching a maximum value (Vmax) due to illumination, the potential remained relatively steady. After the light source was removed, the potential changed in the opposite direction and, after a while, a stable potential was once more obtained.
Table 2 provides the potential variation in the Rhodamine B – TiO2– EDTA System with regard to time, and Figure 1 shows this variation graphically.
Table 2: Variation of Potential with Time for Rhodamine B –TiO2 – EDTA system
Time (Min.) Photopotential (mV) 0 1007 dark potential 15 1086 30 1103 45 1107 60 1108 75 1111 90 1115 105 1123 120 1125 135 1127 150 1130 165 1137 180 1145 195 1154 210 1163 225 1170 240 1177 255 1184 270 1190 285 1192 300 1220 (max) 315 1180 330 1170 345 1168 360 1152 375 1150 390 1149 405 1146 420 1130 435 1120Time Dependent Shifts in Photocurrent
The Rhodamine B – TiO2– EDTA System’s photocurrent increased rapidly upon illumination and reached its maximum value in a matter of minutes. Imax stands for “Maximum Photocurrent,” which is the value in question. At equilibrium, it was found that the current declined with increasing light intensity and then approached a constant amount.
This value is denoted by the letters ieq (Photocurrent at equilibrium). It was discovered that eliminating the source of light led to a reduction in the amount of photocurrent. The report on the change in photocurrent that occurs in the Rhodamine B – TiO2 – EDTA System throughout the course of time can be found in table 3, and figure 2 displays the data in graphical form.
Table 3: Variation of Photocurrent with Time for Rhodamine B –TiO2 – EDTA system
Time (Min.) Photocurrent (mA) 0 43 15 54 30 56 45 59 60 63 75 65 90 67 105 71 120 74 135 79 150 80 165 88 180 97 195 98 210 102 225 107 240 109 255 112 270 118 285 121 300 138 (max) 315 136 330 135 345 134 360 133 375 132 390 131 405 130 420 130 435 129The Effect of Change in Concentration of Rhodamine B
When we looked at how different dye concentrations affected cell performance, everything else was the same. The results showed that when the concentration of the dye (Rhodamine B) increased, so did the photopotential and photocurrent. Once the cell’s electrical output reached a certain concentration of Rhodamine B, it began to decrease. This was determined to be the point at which the maximum was reached. 1 milliliter of M/1000 Dye (Rhodamine B), 5 milliliters of M/100 EDTA, 5 milliliters of TiO2, and 14 milliliters of doubly distilled water made up the 25 milliliter solution. In this experiment, a photogalvanic cell was used to investigate the fluctuation of the photo potential over time.
Table 4: Power, Photocurrent, and Photopotential as a Function of Dye Concentration
Rhodamine B – TiO2 – EDTA System RHODAMINE-B 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 Photopotential (mV) 1220 1267 1299 1108 1100 Photocurrent (mA) 138 186 198 144 131 Power (mW) 118.23 231.64 315.18 231.80 126.94The impact of Changes of EDTA Concentration
With the exception of EDTA concentration, all other variables were controlled to determine the effect of concentration variability on the cell’s electrical output. It was shown that as the EDTA concentration increases, the photopotential increases as well, eventually reaching its maximum value. It was observed that as the EDTA concentration was increased, the cell’s electrical generation decreased. Table 5 and figure 4 detail the effects of different EDTA concentrations on the photopotential and photocurrent of the Rhodamine B – TiO2 – EDTA systems, while figure 4 provides visual representations of these effects. The experimental data is presented in the following table.
Table 5: Variability of Photopotential, Photocurrent and Power by EDTA Concentration
Rhodamine B – TiO2 – EDTA System [EDTA ] 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 Photopotential (mV) 1223 1230 1245 1234 1220 Photocurrent (mA) 115 178 246 150 138 Power (mW) 116.31 231.18 348.87 252.12 118.23The Impact of [TiO2] Dose Variation
The Rhodamine B-TiO2-EDTA System was used to study effect of change in [TiO2] concentration on photoelectric characteristics of the cell while keeping all other components constant. When [TiO2] concentration was increased to a maximum amount, it was noticed that the cell’s electrical output increased as well. Photopotential, photocurrent, and photogalvanic cell power all decreased as their concentrations increased more. Figure 5 provides a pictorial representation of the results, which are given in Table 6.
Table 6: The Effect of TiO2 Concentration on Photopotential, Photocurrent, and Power
Rhodamine B – TiO2 – EDTA System TiO2 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 Photopotential (mV) 1124 1029 1188 1122 1100 Photocurrent (mA) 128 162 198 160 131 Power (mW) 122.91 259.13 363.94 252.34 118.23Current-Voltage (i-V) Characteristics of Cell
Measurement of short circuit current (isc) and open circuit voltage (Voc) of the photogalvanic cell were done using an Osawa micrometer to close the circuit and a KROSS-S DT 830D multimeter with digital display to open it. The digital multimeter’s circuit was attached to an outside load, such as a carbon pot, and both the current and potential values between these two ultimate values were recorded. Table 7 provides an explanation of the current-voltage (i-V) characteristics of the system, which are graphically depicted in Figure 6..
Table 7
S. No. Photocurrent (mA) Potential (mV) Power (mW) 1 230 40 27.59 2 220 90 41.33 3 210 140 53.51 4 200 200 64.36 5 190 260 74.82 6 180 330 87.22 7 170 390 92.86 8 160 450 99.29 9 150 520 106.45 10 140 580 118.23 11 130 640 105.25 12 120 710 99.38 13 110 780 91.65 14 100 850 83.12 15 90 910 75.28 16 80 970 66.73 17 70 1025 57.86 18 60 1050 48.26 19 50 1075 41.27 20 40 1100 33.15 21 30 1120 26.80 22 20 1155 23.25 23 10 1190 17.20 24 00 1220 00.00
Figure 6: I-V Cell Characteristic, (b) Power vs. Current, and (c) Potential and Power Variability with Current
The i-V curve, which represents the current, was found to have lost its distinctive rectangular shape. The fill-factor was determined to be 0.289 using the following formula, and the maximum value of the product of photocurrent and photopotential was determined to be 0.289 at Power Point (pp), a point on the i-V curve.
Vpp is the photopotential intensity and ipp is the photocurrent intensity at power point. The voltage across an open-circuit is represented by Voc, while the current across a short circuit is represented by isc.
Cell Performance
Once the potential became stable, the light was turned off and an external load was introduced to test the photogalvanic cell’s performance. The potential required to have stabilized before this could be done. Time to half-life was used to evaluate the performance. For a total of 210.0 minutes, the cell containing Rhodamine B, EDTA, and TiO2 could be operated in darkness. The findings are summarized in table 8, and the time-power curve provides a graphical representation of the data (Figure 7).
Table 8: Study of the Half-life of the Cell
Time (Minutes) Power (mW) 0 118.23(max.Ppp) 50 104.15 70 97.19 90 91.26 110 86.12 130 80.22 150 73.62 170 69.23 190 63.26 210 58.20(t1/2) 230 52.71 250 49.13 270 44.76 290 40.23 310 36.16 330 32.17 350 26.49Cell Conversion Efficiency
By entering the radiation’s incident power, current, and potential values at the power point and solving for the resulting voltage, one can ascertain a cell’s conversion efficiency:
Where, A represents the electrode area of platinum foil electrode (1 cm2)
Conclusion
When EDTA and Rohdamine B dye were utilized in the current study, the conversion efficiency and fill factor were determined to be 0.781 and 0.289, respectively. In this work, I also observed that the pH of the solution decreases with cell illumination and eventually becomes constant. For the good improvement of DSSC in the future, a mixture of photosesitizers with broad absorption at UV-visible regions may be used.
Acknowledgment
I would like to express thanks to my research guide Dr. R. C. Meena, Professor, Department of Chemistry, Jai Narain Vyas University, Jodhpur, For his excellent guidance, encouragement, motivation and suggestions.
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare no conflict of interest in the present work.
Funding Sources
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article
References
Rabinowitch, E; Journal of Chemical Physics, 1940,Vol.8 :pp.551-560,(1940).
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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