Uso de pigmentos naturales de mortiño (Vaccinium floribundum) como sensibilizadores en celdas solares DSSC

Abstract

Photovoltaic energy shows environmental advantages over conventional energy developments in which fossil fuels are burned. However, its usage today is limited by the manufacturing cost, in most cases it requires scarce or environmental dangerous materials. This work proposes the use of natural pigment from mortiño (Vaccinium floribundum) in the construction of sensitized solar cells by pigment (DSSC), this is a native fruit from the Andes in South America which has photoactive substances of interest. The experimental development was based on the extraction and characterization of mortiño pigments from Ecuador, this were obtained in different media (HCl, citric acid and TFA) and were analyzed by chromatographic (HPLC and TLC) and spectrometric (UV-Vis, IR and MS-MALDI) techniques. Subsequently, the construction of the DSSC and its photovoltaic evaluation were carried out under controlled conditions at the laboratory. Characterization of the extracts allowed identify the follow pigments (sensitizers): delphinidin-3-galactoside, cyanidin-3-galactoside, cyanidin-3-arabinoside and cyanidin (aglycone). The efficiencies achieved in the cells are between 0.18 and 0.22%, the extract with TFA in methanol allowed the best photovoltaic performance. Solar cells based on motiño’s pigments are an alternative to conventional devices, since they incorporate harmless, abundant and stably materials.