Significant Influence of Annealing Temperature and Thickness of Electrode on Energy Conversion Efficiency of Dye Sensitized Solar Cell: Effect of Catalyst

Dye sensitized solar cell (DSSC) shows great promise as an alternative to conventional p-n junction solar cells due to their low fabrication cost and reasonably high efficiency. DSSC was assembled by using natural dye extracted from red amaranth (Amaranthus Gangeticus) as a sensitizer and different catalysts for counter electrode were applied for maximum energy conversion efficiency. Annealing temperature and thickness of electrode were also investigated and optimized. Catalyst, annealing temperature and thickness were optimized by the determination of cell performance considering photoelectrochemical output and measuring current and voltage; then calculating efficiency and other electrical parameters. The experimental results indicated that samples having 40 μm electrode thickness and prepared at 450 ^o C annealing temperature showed the best performance.