“Organic Dye Functionalized CuO Nanoparticles: synthesis, characterization and applications in solar cells”

Abstract

In this study copper oxide nanoparticles were synthesized successfully by sol-gel method using anhydrous copper chloride ( 𝐶𝑢𝐶𝑙2 ) as a precursor and sodium hydroxide (NaOH) as a strong stabilizing agent. Photosensitization of CuO nanoparticles was carried out with brilliant blue red (BBR) dye. The synthesized materials were characterized by UV-Visible spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy. Dye sensitized solar cell was fabricated using the synthesized material as a photo-active blend and efficiency of the fabricated device was calculated at different dye concentrations.