Characterization of Flower Based Organic Dyes and Titanium Dioxide Thin Film for Dye Sensitized Solar Cell

Abstract

Abstract In the present study, we described the organic dye extraction process from local flowers employing different methods and solvents (a mixture of acetic acid and ethanol, another is only acetic acid); especially we completed our research by exploring dye from red gerbera flower as it showed higher absorbance. Both dry and fresh petals of the flower were used for extracting dyes. The results revealed that the mixture-based dye extraction from dry red gerbera yielded a higher absorbance value of 4.579 a.u., whereas the acetic acid-based extraction from the same source exhibited a lower absorbance value of 2.778 a.u. The choice of solvent for dye extraction was found to significantly influence the absorption spectrum. Additionally, the Beer-Lambert law was employed to analyze the relationship between the absorbance and the concentration of the extracted dyes. For the electrode, a TiO2 film was created using the spin coating technique. From the XRD graph, we found the band gap energy of TiO2 which is 2.81eV (annealed at 450°C), the type of nanoparticle of the thin film. Also found a Crystallite size of 32.95nm and a specific Surface Area (SSA) of 43.048 m2.g−1, Microstrain (ε) of 5e-3 and Dislocation Density (δ) of 9.2e-4cm−2.