title: Brown seaweed pigment as a dye source for photoelectrochemical solar cells.
abstract: Chlorophylls based-dyes obtained from seaweeds represent attractive alternatives to the expensive and polluting pyridil based Ru complexes because of their abundance in nature. Another important characteristic is that the algae do not subtract either cropland or agricultural water, therefore do not conflict with agro-food sector. This pigment shows a typical intense absorption in the UV/blue (Soret band) and a less intense band in the red/near IR (Q band) spectral regions and for these reasons appear very promising as sensitizer dyes for DSSC. In the present study, we utilized chlorophylls from samples of the brown alga Undaria pinnatifida as sensitizer in DSSCs. The dye, extracted by frozen seaweeds and used without any chemical purification, showed a very good fill factor (0.69). Even the photelectrochemical parameters if compared with the existent literature are very interesting.
authors.affiliation: CNR-IPCF, Istituto per i Processi Chimico-Fisici, via F. Stagno D'Alcontres 37, I-98158 Messina, Italy. Electronic address: calogero@me.cnr.it.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Calogero
authors.forename: Ilaria
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Citro
authors.forename: Gaetano
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Di Marco
authors.forename: Simona
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Armeli Minicante
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Morabito
authors.forename: Giuseppa
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Genovese
mesh_terms: D000042:Absorption; D002734:Chlorophyll / Q000737:chemistry*; D004396:Coloring Agents / Q000737:chemistry*; D004563:Electrochemistry; D010777:Photochemistry; D012624:Seaweed / Q000737:chemistry*; D012993:Solar Energy; D013056:Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet; D014025:Titanium / Q000737:chemistry; D014466:Ultraviolet Rays
chemical_list: D004396:Coloring Agents; D002734:Chlorophyll; C009495:titanium dioxide; D014025:Titanium
keywords: Dye-sensitized solar cells; Natural dyes; Seaweeds; Solar energy; Undaria pinnatifida; Venice Lagoon