Natural dyes extracted from Inthanin bok leaves as light-harvesting units for dye-sensitized solar cells

The dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) deliver a low-cost and dependable alternative for various photovoltaic devices. The extraction process of natural pigments is simple and inexpensive compared with synthetic dyes. Natural plant pigments were extracted from flowers, leaves, roots, and fruits. Thus, this research focuses on the potential of natural dye using cold extraction with methanol. A UV–visible spectrometer was used for analyzing the Inthanin bok ( Lagerstroemia macrocarpa ) pigments absorption wavelength for the DSSC application. Carotenoids have the highest content, which is 10.666 ± 0.324 μg/ml; followed by chlorophyll-a with 2.708 ± 0.251 μg/ml and lastly chlorophyll-b with 2.500 ± 0.102 μg/ml. Elemental of the TiO 2 nanoparticles and natural dyes was confirmed by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). The scanning electron microscope (SEM) and the laser scanning microscope used for analyzed morphological characteristics of TiO 2 nanoparticles and natural dyes. Moreover, the highest efficiency of the pigments extracted from Inthanin bok leaves is 1.138% ± 0.018, which the condition of 1 layer of TiO 2 nanoparticles and the temperature; 300 °C.