A Study on the Effect of a Surfactant in a Photosensitizer for Solar Energy Conversion and Storage

An efficient photogalvanic cell containing oxalic acid as an electron donar, a dye bismark brown as a photosensitizer, and sodium lauryel sulphate as a surfactant has been investigated for solar energy and storage. The photopotential, photocurrent, and power generated by the photogalvanic cell were 675.0 mV, 130.0 mu A, and 87.75 mu W, respectively. The determined conversion efficiency of the cell was determined as 0.4704% and fill factor was 0.557. The current voltage characteristics of the cell have also been studied. The effect of diffusion parameters on the electrical output of the cell was investigated and a mechanism for the generation of photocurrent in this photogalvanic cell has also been proposed.