Photovoltaic performance of Gracilaria corticata seaweed extract as sensitizer in dye-sensitized solar cell

Photovoltaic performance of a marine red seaweed Gracilaria corticata using acetone and methanol as extracting solvents was examined in a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) integrated with TiO 2 photoanode. The UV–vis absorption spectra and TLC analysis revealed the presence of natural photosynthetic pigments, such as chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, pheophytin, and xanthophylls. DSSC performance parameters, such as short-circuit current density (J sc ) and open-circuit voltage (V oc ), were directly measured from each current–voltage (J–V) characteristic curve, while the remaining photovoltaic parameters such as maximum current density (J max ), maximum voltage (V max ), maximum power (P max ), fill factor (FF), and overall cell conversion efficiency (η) were calculated from the respective J–V characteristic curve. It is peculiar to note that DSSCs in both solvents disclosed a reasonably fill factor (FF). However, DSSCs sensitized by acetone extract of G. corticata exhibited relatively high photovoltaic performance (J sc 0.82 mA cm 2 , V oc of 702 mV, impressive FF (0.73) and an efficiency of 0.42%), which was twofold higher than the DSSCs sensitized by methanol extract (efficiency 0.18%). The results suggest the use of seaweed pigments as low cost, eco-friendly viable to alternate DSSC.