Enhanced performance of natural dye sensitised solar cells fabricated using rutile TIO2 nanorods

Due to the lower cost, natural dye molecules are good alternatives for the ruthenium based sensitizers in the dye-sensitized solar cells. In this article, we have reported the natural sensitizer based dye-sensitized solar cells fabricated using TiO2 nanorods. Rutile phase TiO2 nanorods have been synthesized by template free hydrothermal method which results in TiO2 nanorods in the form of acropora corals. These TiO2 nanorods have been sensitized by flowers of Sesbania grandiflora, leaves of Camellia sinensis and roots of Rubia tinctorum. The maximum conversion efficiency of 1.53% has been obtained for TiO2 nanorods based solar cells sensitized with the leaves of Camellia sinensis. The flowers of Sesbania grandiflora and roots of Rubio tinctorum sensitized TiO2 nanorods based solar cells exhibited an efficiency of 0.65% and 1.28% respectively. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.