STUDY OF SENSITIZATION OF THERMALLY-SYNTHESIZED TiO2 POWDERS FOR NATURAL DYE SENSITIZED SOLAR CELL (DSSC)

Nanocrystalline TiO2 powders were prepared in ethanol by thermal sol-gel method using an aqueous solution of titanium(IV) tetraisopropoxide as precursor. Synthesis was done without surfactants. The prepared TiO2 powders were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) to determine the phase and composition of the crystalline powders, FTIR to identify their functional groups. Morphology of the powders was observed using Scanning Electron Microscopy. Isotherm of N2 adsorption-desorption analysis was performed to identify surface area and porosity of TiO2 powders. Difractogram of titania powders shows that it consists of anatase. Sensitization study of natural dyes from fruit extract of duwet (Eugenia jambolana Lam) and wood extract of Tegeran (Maclura cochinensis) was performed on slip-casted TiO2 films prepared from the resultant TiO2 powders. The extracts of natural dyes in ethanol were adsorbed onto TiO2 film for 20 hours. Characterization of TiO2 film was performed by X &ndas