Plectranthus amboinicus Leaf Extract Synthesized Spherical like-TiO2 Photoanode for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell Application

Spherical like-Titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles were synthesized by the green sol-gel method using Plectranthus amboinicus leaf extract for different pH values. The prepared TiO2 nanoparticles have been coated over the Indium tin oxide (ITO) substrate by using the doctor blade approach and the Rose Bengal (RB) organic dye utilized as a sensitizer for all constructed dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The X-ray diffraction (XRD) endorses the creation of tetragonal crystal structured TiO2 nanoparticles with the anatase phase and the average crystalline size is estimated as 27 nm. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) micrograph reveals that the nanoparticles are uniformly distributed with spherical like-morphology without agglomeration. UV absorption spectra (UV-Vis) was absorbed to protect the bandgap energy in the range of 3.02-2.95 eV. Fourier transform infrared spectrum (FTIR) was recorded to investigate the presence of chemical composition in synthesized pure TiO2 nanoparticles. The DSSCs assembled for prepared TiO2 nanoparticles have exhibited solar to electrical energy conversion efficiency reached 1.3% by using Plectranthus amboinicus leaf extract under the illumination of 100 mW cm(-2).

Automated summary

In this study, spherical titanium dioxide nanoparticles were synthesized using Plectranthus amboinicus leaf extract and utilized in dye-sensitized solar cells. Characterization techniques such as XRD, SEM, UV-Vis, and FTIR confirmed the crystal structure, morphology, bandgap energy, and chemical composition of the nanoparticles. The DSSCs assembled with these nanoparticles showed a solar to electrical energy conversion efficiency of 1.3% under illumination.