SENSITIZED SOLAR CELLS WITH PHOTOSENSITIVE DYES OBTAINED FROM PLANTS OF THE SOUTHERN REGION OF ECUADOR

Four vegetal species of the southern of Ecuador were used as sensitizers for making dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The effect of type and amount of material, type and time of maceration were tested in order to determine the best conditions of extraction. The extraction of the natural dye was made with acidified ethanol. The sensitizing agents were adsorbed on TiO2 nanoparticles in small solar cells. The DSSCs made with natural dyes from extracts of blackberry (Rubus glaucus B), mortino (Solanum americanum Mill), escancel (Iresine herbstii Hook) and beet (Beta vulgaris L) developed an open-circuit tension (Voc) 0.65, 0.5, 0.45 and 0.19 V, respectively. The short-circuit currents (Isc) varies from 2.05 to 19.68 mA cm(-2) and the fill factor ranging from 0.61 to 0.69. The DSSCs sensitized with the extract of Rubus glaucus B offered the highest maximum power of 8.83 mW. Thus, the natural dyes used showed great potential as sensitizers in DSSCs, besides being environmentally friendly and their low cost.