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Effect of Caffeine Copigmentation of Anthocyanin Dyes on DSSC Efficiency

Caffeine is known to influence the absorbance spectrum of anthocyanin dyes. Such dyes are often used as sensitizers in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Natural dyes, like anthocyanins, yield only small DSSC efficiencies, but are of high interest since they are usually non-toxic and inexpensive. H...

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Autores principales: Juhász Junger, Irén, Udomrungkhajornchai, Suphawit, Grimmelsmann, Nils, Blachowicz, Tomasz, Ehrmann, Andrea
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6747623/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31443548
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ma12172692
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author Juhász Junger, Irén
Udomrungkhajornchai, Suphawit
Grimmelsmann, Nils
Blachowicz, Tomasz
Ehrmann, Andrea
author_facet Juhász Junger, Irén
Udomrungkhajornchai, Suphawit
Grimmelsmann, Nils
Blachowicz, Tomasz
Ehrmann, Andrea
author_sort Juhász Junger, Irén
collection PubMed
description Caffeine is known to influence the absorbance spectrum of anthocyanin dyes. Such dyes are often used as sensitizers in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Natural dyes, like anthocyanins, yield only small DSSC efficiencies, but are of high interest since they are usually non-toxic and inexpensive. Here we report on the influence of copigmentation of anthocyanins, taken from commercially available tea, with caffeine. In this way, the efficiencies were increased for measurements with a solar simulator as well as with ambient light. In addition, the well-known pH dependence of the efficiency of DSSCs dyed with anthocyanins was shifted—while a pH value of 1–2 was ideal for pure anthocyanins used as dyes, a higher pH value of 2–3 was sufficient to reach the maximum efficiencies for caffeine-copigmented dyes. This means that instead of reducing the pH value by adding an acid, adding caffeine can also be used to increase the efficiency of DSSCs prepared with anthocyanins. Finally, a comparison of several literature sources dealing with anthocyanin-based DSSCs allows for evaluation of our results with respect to the work of other groups.
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spelling pubmed-67476232019-09-27 Effect of Caffeine Copigmentation of Anthocyanin Dyes on DSSC Efficiency Juhász Junger, Irén Udomrungkhajornchai, Suphawit Grimmelsmann, Nils Blachowicz, Tomasz Ehrmann, Andrea Materials (Basel) Article Caffeine is known to influence the absorbance spectrum of anthocyanin dyes. Such dyes are often used as sensitizers in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Natural dyes, like anthocyanins, yield only small DSSC efficiencies, but are of high interest since they are usually non-toxic and inexpensive. Here we report on the influence of copigmentation of anthocyanins, taken from commercially available tea, with caffeine. In this way, the efficiencies were increased for measurements with a solar simulator as well as with ambient light. In addition, the well-known pH dependence of the efficiency of DSSCs dyed with anthocyanins was shifted—while a pH value of 1–2 was ideal for pure anthocyanins used as dyes, a higher pH value of 2–3 was sufficient to reach the maximum efficiencies for caffeine-copigmented dyes. This means that instead of reducing the pH value by adding an acid, adding caffeine can also be used to increase the efficiency of DSSCs prepared with anthocyanins. Finally, a comparison of several literature sources dealing with anthocyanin-based DSSCs allows for evaluation of our results with respect to the work of other groups. MDPI 2019-08-22 /pmc/articles/PMC6747623/ /pubmed/31443548 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ma12172692 Text en © 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Juhász Junger, Irén
Udomrungkhajornchai, Suphawit
Grimmelsmann, Nils
Blachowicz, Tomasz
Ehrmann, Andrea
Effect of Caffeine Copigmentation of Anthocyanin Dyes on DSSC Efficiency
title Effect of Caffeine Copigmentation of Anthocyanin Dyes on DSSC Efficiency
title_full Effect of Caffeine Copigmentation of Anthocyanin Dyes on DSSC Efficiency
title_fullStr Effect of Caffeine Copigmentation of Anthocyanin Dyes on DSSC Efficiency
title_full_unstemmed Effect of Caffeine Copigmentation of Anthocyanin Dyes on DSSC Efficiency
title_short Effect of Caffeine Copigmentation of Anthocyanin Dyes on DSSC Efficiency
title_sort effect of caffeine copigmentation of anthocyanin dyes on dssc efficiency
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6747623/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31443548
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ma12172692
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