title: Influence of polar solvents on photovoltaic performance of Monascusred dye-sensitized solar cell.
abstract: Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) were assembled using natural dyes extracted from Monascus red pigment as a sensitizer. In this work, we studied the adsorption characteristics for harvesting sunlight and the electrochemical behavior for electron transfer in Monascus red DSSC using different solvents. The effect of polar aprotic and protic solvents including water, ethanol, and dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) used in the sensitization process was investigated for the improvement in conversion efficiency of a cell. As for the Monascus red dye-sensitized electrode in DMSO solvent, the solar cell yields a short-circuit current density (Jsc) of 1.23mA/cm(2), a photovoltage (Voc) of 0.75V, and a fill factor of 0.72, corresponding to an energy conversion efficiency (η) of 0.66%.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Chosun University, Gwangju 501-759, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jae Wook
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Engineering, Chonnam National University, Gwangju 500-757, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Tae Young
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Advanced & Chemicals, Chonnam National University, Gwangju 500-757, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Hyun Seok
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Ko
authors.affiliation: School of Applied Chemical Engineering, Chonnam National University, Gwangju 500-757, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Shin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Southwestern Research Institute of Green Energy Technology, Mokpo 530-831, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Suk-Ho
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: The Research Institute of Advanced Engineering Technology, Chosun University, Gwangju 501-759, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: see0936@chonnam.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Kyung Hee
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Park
mesh_terms: D004396:Coloring Agents / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004121:Dimethyl Sulfoxide / Q000737:chemistry; D011211:Electric Power Supplies; D055664:Electrochemical Techniques; D004566:Electrodes; D000431:Ethanol / Q000737:chemistry; D032741:Monascus / Q000737:chemistry*; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000737:chemistry; D012993:Solar Energy; D012997:Solvents / Q000737:chemistry; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D004396:Coloring Agents; D010936:Plant Extracts; D012997:Solvents; D014867:Water; D000431:Ethanol; D004121:Dimethyl Sulfoxide
keywords: Adsorption; Dye-sensitized solar cells; Monascus red dye; Photovoltaic performance; Solvent