Arief Rahmatulloh, Mutia Devi Hidayati, Refrina Charissadi Firdaus, Shera Angelista Salsha Bella
One promising alternative energy source that can replace fossil fuel energy is photon energy derived from sunlight. A device capable of converting this photon energy into electrical power is known as a solar cell, with the Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell (DSSC) representing the third generation of this technology. This research aims to study the performance of turmeric extract as a dye sensitizer and graphene as a counter electrode in DSSC. FTIR characterization is conducted to determine the interaction between the dye sensitizer, TiO2, and the ITO glass. The appearance of a new absorption at wave number 1500.67 cm−1 shows the interaction between the dye sensitizer, graphene, and TiO2–ITO glass. In addition, the emergence of absorption at wave numbers 630.74 and 459.07, which represent Ti–O and In–O, respectively, strengthens the interaction between the dye and TiO2–ITO glass. The interaction between the dye sensitizer, graphene, and TiO2–ITO glass is also demonstrated by the uniform surface as observed in FESEM topography analysis. The band gap energy between the valence and conduction bands is also analyzed and calculated using UV–Vis spectrophotometry. Further, the presence of graphene in the DSSC reduces the band gap energy from 3.203 to 2.997 eV. While the dye sensitizer significantly reduced the band gap from 3.203 to 2.300 eV. The highest photovoltaic efficiency values of DSSC are obtained with 5 %, %w/v of dye sensitizer and 1 %, %w/v of graphene. The values are 1.66 % in the room and 3.54 % under the sunlight. © 2026 Indian Chemical Society.
Department of Chemical Engineering, Politeknik Negeri Malang, East Java, Malang, 65141, Indonesia