Areca catechu as photovoltaic sensitizer for dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC)

Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell (DSSC) becomes more and more interesting since a huge variety of dyes included. The natural dyes can be used as light-harvesting elements which provide the charge carriers. This contribution research on the possibility of using natural dye Areca catechu from a local Malaysian Palm tree, namely Pinang fruit, extracted by using Acetonitrile as an extracted solvent for DSSC application. This study focuses on the properties of natural dye from Areca catechu, extracted with highly acidic media. Ultraviolet-visible absorption spectroscopy (UV-Vis), Fourier Transforms Infrared (FTIR), and Photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL) have been investigated for characterized dye. The natural dye extracted from Areca catechu has interesting properties due to the high degree of molecule conjugation. This dye is capable of absorbing light quantum, at low and high energies ranging from the infrared to the Ultraviolet (UV) region. The presence of natural dye in Areca catechu crust was reported by both UV-Vis and FTIR. While the intensity of Photoluminescence emissions reported a bandgap of 1.85 eV. Areca catechu as a natural dye for DSSC sensitization, promising to achieve high cell performance, low-cost production, and non-toxicity for future applications in dye-sensitized solar cell devices.