Photoenergy conversion in photogalvanic cell composed of methylene blue - Ascorbic acid system

Department of Chemistry, Jai Narain Vyas University, Jodhpur-342 005, Rajasthan, India E-mail : krgenwa@gmail.com Manuscript received 09 February 2011. accepted 12 July 2011 Methylene blue dye is used to sensitize photo-reaction with ascorbic acid. The photogalvanic effect was studied in photogalvanic cell containing methylene blue - ascorbic acid system. The photopotential and photocurrent generated by the cell were 901.0 mV and 165.0 µA, respectively. The effect of variation of different parameters like pH, temperature, light intensity, electrode area and diffusion length, on the electrical output of the cell were observed. Current-voltage characteristics of the cell has been observed. A mechanism for the generation of photocurrent in this photogalvanic cell in presence of methylene blue as a dye have also been studied. Efficiency of cell is determined in terms of fill factor, conversion efficiency and storage capacity