Photogalvanic effect of natural photosensitizer (crude spinach extract) in artificial light for simultaneous solar power generation and storage

The synthetic dyes as photo-sensitizers have been extensively studied in the photogalvanic cells for solar energy conversion and storage in artificial light. To make photogalvanic cells more environmentally friendly and sustainable, the natural and renewable source like crude extract of the spinach has been studied as sensitizer material in this study. Remarkable steady state power and current generation with simultaneous power storage have been observed. The observed cell performance (charging time 18 min, Open-circuit potential 1050 millivolt, Short-circuit current 1750 micro ampere, power 384.0 micro watt, storage capacity as half change time 44 min, efficiency approximate to 9.22%) is very encouraging to photogalvanics. This study shows that the natural resources like crude spinach extract can also sensitize photogalvanics with efficiency as high as for synthetic dye sensitizers with additional advantage of low cost and free from pollution, which is associated with production and disposal of dyes. Natural resources like crude spinach extract-based PG follow same principles as for synthetic dye sensitizers. (c) 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 37: 1800-1807, 2018