Development of Photovoltaic Cells Based on Kadyos Pod-Synthesized Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles and Natural Dye from Purple Knight and Purple Shamrock Ethanolic Extract

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

Solar energy is one of the widely used sources of energy in the Philippines through the establishment of industrial photovoltaic plants. Photovoltaic cells have drawn attention as an alternative source of electricity because of their low production cost, ease of fabrication and manipulation, and reasonably high efficiency. Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) with natural dye are usually tapped in the development of photovoltaic cells.

METHODS

The ZnO NPs were synthesized by mixing and boiling the dried fine Kadyos pod powder in deionized water until the color of the aqueous solution changed from watery to light green. The mixture was then filtered. The filtrate was then mixed with Zinc acetate dehydrate and a few drops of2.0 M NaOH solution. The synthesized ZnO NPs (white precipitate) was washed with distilled water and ethanol, and dried in a hot air oven at room temperature. Then, the ZnO NPs were then made into a paste and combined with natural dye from Purple Knight and Purple Shamrock and utilized as photovoltaic cell.

RESULTS

In this study, ZnO NPs were successfully synthesized using Kadyos pod extract as capping and reducing agent which was confirmed by UV vis Spectrometer with peak absorbance between 200nm and 300 nm. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) showed that the particles were aggregated, irregular in shape and varied in size. DMRT at 0.05α revealed that the Kadyos pod-assisted synthesized ZnO NPs and natural dye from Purple Shamrock leaves or Purple Knight leaves extract produced a significantly higher current and voltage output than the Zinc oxide with the two aforementioned extracts at varying periods (9:00 am, 12:00 pm and 2 pm).

DISCUSSIONS

Phytochemicals present in Kadyos pods such as alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, terpenoids, and glycosides may be responsible in the synthesis of ZnO NPs. It was confirmed in this study that the total anthocyanin content and total monomeric anthocyanin pigments of the Purple Shamrock extract is significantly higher than the Purple Knight extract which explains that the former produced a higher current voltage output than the latter when used as materials in the photovoltaic cell. This result could provide valuable inputs in developing a low cost and feasible environment-friendly source of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) which can lessen the problem on power shortage as well as promote sustainable development.