Exploring Moringa oleifera as a Sustainable Chlorophyll Source for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSCs)

Abstract

Chlorophyll, a natural photosynthetic pigment, is gaining interest for its sustainable and eco-friendly applications in renewable energy, particularly as a photosensitizer in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). This study investigates the feasibility of chlorophyll extracted from Moringa oleifera as a natural photosensitizer in DSSCs, building on our previous work demonstrating its high chlorophyll content and long-term stability. Chlorophyll was extracted using acetone under optimal conditions (45 °C, 60 min) and applied in DSSCs comprising a TiO2 photoanode, iodide/triiodide electrolyte, and platinum counter electrode. The TiO2 photoanode was characterised using UV-Vis spectroscopy, FE-SEM, XRD, and Raman spectroscopy, confirming the presence of pure anatase phase TiO2 with uniform spherical nanoparticle morphology. The fabricated DSSCs achieved a short-circuit current density of 0.197 mA cm−2, an open-circuit voltage of 0.44 V, a fill factor of 32%, and a photoconversion efficiency (PCE) of 0.027%. While this performance is lower than the highest reported chlorophyll-based DSSC efficiency (4.6%), the results demonstrate that M. oleifera is a viable and sustainable source of chlorophyll for DSSC applications. The findings highlight the importance of dye–semiconductor interactions and suggest that further optimisation through co-sensitization, TiO2 surface modification, and improved dye anchoring could enhance device performance.