Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy 228 (2020) 117686

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Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular

Spectroscopy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/saa

Prickly pear fruit extract as photosensitizer for dye-sensitized solar cell

Nandarapu Purushothamreddy a, Reshma K. Dileep b, Ganapathy Veerappan b, ∗∗,
M. Kovendhan c, D. Paul Joseph a,d, ∗
a
Department of Physics, National Institute of Technology, Warangal, 506004, India
b
Centre for Solar Energy Materials, International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy and New Materials (ARCI), Balapur, Hyderabad, 500005, India
c
Department of Environmental Engineering, INHA University, 100 Inha-ro, Nam-gu, Incheon, 402-751, South Korea
d
Centre for Advanced Materials, National Institute of Technology, Warangal, 506004, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: In this study, we have explored prickly pear fruit extract as a photosensitizer in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC).
Received 15 April 2019 The photosensitizer was isolated from prickly pear fruits by extraction method using ethanol as solvent. Struc-
Received in revised form 24 September 2019 tural, morphological and optical properties of prickly pear extract characterized by XRD, SEM, UV-VIS-DRS,
Accepted 20 October 2019
FTIR spectra, respectively. UV-VIS absorption and FTIR spectra of prickly pear fruit extract confirm the presence
Available online 23 October 2019
of betacyanin and hydroxyl groups anchoring onto the TiO2 surface. The absorption maxima at 534 nm in the vis-
Keywords:
ible region is prominent. The presence of betacyanin in the extract is indicative that the dye will be useful as a
Dye sensitized solar cells (DSSC's) sensitizer in DSSC. Reflectance edge of TiO2 is red-shifted upon the adsorption of natural dye. The XPS analysis
Prickly pear extract showed the charge state of hydroxyl (O–H) groups that are attached with the natural dye adsorbed onto the sur-
Betacyanin face of TiO2. The fabricated DSSC had a conversion efficiency (ɳ) of 0.56% with highest fill factor (FF) of 0.85, open-
Natural dye circuit voltage (Voc) of 0.56 V and short circuit-current density (Jsc) with 1.17 mA/cm2. The value obtained for the
TiO2 photoanode fill factor is promising to further explore the prickly pear extract for applicability in DSSC by improving the
efficiency.
© 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction iodine (I− −

3 /I ) redox couple as a liquid electrolyte and platinum (Pt)
coated FTO as counter electrode (CE) [3,4]. Usually, the WE made up
Today the world appears to be increasingly interested in clean alter- of TiO2 anchored with a ruthenium complex based photosensitizer
nate energy sources to produce electricity; without environmental dye plays a critical role in the generation of photo-excited electrons to
damage and carbon foot-print unlike traditional fossil fuels, which is inject them into the conduction band of TiO2 layer towards better per-
causing severe environmental pollution. Due to these environmental is- formance of the DSSC. Ruthenium based photosensitizer along with io-
sues, researchers are motivated to explore alternative means for dine (I− −
3 /I ) liquid electrolyte have successfully achieved highest
obtaining clean energy from plentiful natural resources. Solar energy conversion efficiency of 11–12% using nano-porous semiconducting
is one of the most abundant and prominent renewable sources for envi- TiO2 electrodes [5–8]. The common synthetic dyes are ruthenium,
ronmentally clean energy which can be harnessed via different routes. A polypyridine metal complexes, phthalocyanine dye and porphyrin
Dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) is one of such renewable energy device, dyes [9,10]. However, metal-organic complex based dyes are very ex-
which can convert solar radiation into electrical energy. DSSCs are easy pensive, difficult to synthesize, complex in design, feign high environ-
to fabricate, lower in cost, environment-friendly and compatible for mental and health risks due to their toxic nature [11]. As an
mass production [1]. The DSSC first developed by the O'Regan and alternative, researchers nowadays focus on dyes extracted from natural
Gratzel in 1991 achieved 7% energy conversion efficiency using TiO2 as sources as a photosensitizer to convert solar energy into electricity. The
a photoanode [2]. The DSSC is made up of nanocrystalline wide bandgap advantages of natural dyes are eco-friendly, cost-effective, non-toxic,
semiconductor layer coated onto fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) as and abundant [12–14]. Natural dye pigments containing anthocyanin,
working electrode (WE), ruthenium-based dye as photosensitizer, betalains (betacyanin), chlorophyll, flavonoids and carotenoids have
been greatly investigated as a photosensitizer in DSSCs [15–21]. These
natural photosensitizers are extracted from commonly available fruits,
∗ Corresponding author. Department of Physics, National Institute of Technology, leaves, roots and flowers which are capable to absorb light photons hav-
Warangal, 506004, India.
∗∗ Corresponding author.
ing wavelengths in the visible region of the solar spectrum [22–24].
E-mail addresses: ganagv@gmail.com (G. Veerappan), palphymail@gmail.com, Natural dye sources from commonly available fruits, leaves and
paul@nitw.ac.in (D.P. Joseph). roots have been investigated recently for being used as photo-

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.saa.2019.117686
1386-1425/© 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
2 N. Purushothamreddy et al. / Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy 228 (2020) 117686

sensitizer in DSSC [14,25–35]. Betalains containing natural pigments ex- 2.3. Preparation of photoanode and fabrication of DSSC device
tracted from red beetroot having absorption maxima in the red-violet
colour range have been widely used as a photosensitizer in DSSC's and The electrode preparation and device fabrication were done as per
reported to have an efficiency in the range 0.44% to 0.67% [35,36]. In our previously reported paper [38]. Mesoporous TiO2 paste was coated
the present work, we explored prickly pear fruit extract (Cactus) be- onto FTO substrates marking an active area of 0.25 cm2 and annealed
longing to the Cactaceae family containing natural betacyanin which ap- at 500 °C for 30 min. The films were further treated with 40 mM of
pears deep red in colour. The cactus plants grow in several tropical TiCl4 at 100 °C for 1 h and then sintered at 500 °C for 30 min in air.
regions all over the world, like South Africa, Mediterranean basin, Mid- The TiCl4 treated TiO2 electrodes were then soaked in the prickly pear
dle East, Australia and India [37]. Prickly pear fruits are relatively less ex- dye (prepared in absolute ethanol) at room temperature for 12 h. The
plored compared to other natural sources and are worth exploring since dye adsorbed electrodes were thoroughly washed in a mild stream of
they have carboxylic groups with oxidation potential similar to that of ethanol to remove the weakly adsorbed prickly pear dye molecules
ruthenium polypyridyl complexes [26]. Few reports exist in the litera- onto the surface of TiO2 film.
ture reporting the extract of prickly pear fruit used as a photosensitizer The FTO substrates were drilled with two fine holes to fill the elec-
in DSSC, among them G. Calogero et al., have shown an improved effi- trolyte solution. The cleaned substrates were coated with a thin layer
ciency of 2.06% for Sicilian prickly pear fruits [26]. However, they ob- of platinum paste by doctor blade method and sintered at 500 °C for
tained a slightly low fill factor (0.60) and open-circuit voltage 30 min to serve as the counter-electrodes. The photoanode and counter
(389 mV). In general, the variation in performance of DSSC's depend electrode were then sandwiched with the help of surlyn polymer. The
on fabrication steps adopted, like the procedure used for extracting iodide-based liquid electrolyte is injected into the cell through the
and purifying the extract of cactus fruit etc. It is also to be noted that hole from the counter electrode side. After filling the electrolyte, the
the mineral content and the concentration/ratio of the natural dye com- holes on the counter electrode was sealed using surlyn and cover glass.
ponents present in the cactus fruits highly depend on the geographic lo-
cation from where they are grown.
In this work, we explore the natural dye extracted from the common 2.4. Characterization techniques
prickly pear fruit belonging to the Cactaceae family, Opuntia genus and
ficus-Indica species grown in Western Ghats mountain range located in The crystallinity of TiO2 and prickly pear extract adsorbed TiO2 were
the southern part of Tamilnadu, India. The prickly pear extract was first characterized by X-ray Diffractometer (XRD) instrument
characterized for its optical properties using UV–Vis and FTIR to confirm (PANanalytical, Cu-Kα radiation, λ = 1.5406 Å). Morphological features
the presence of betacyanin. Later, the prickly pear extract was made to of the prickly pear extract adsorbed TiO2 nanocrystalline particles were
adsorb on the surface of nanocrystalline TiO2 and characterized for its studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) (TESCAN, VEGA3-
structural and optical properties using XRD, SEM, XPS and UV–Vis- LMU). Light absorption characteristics of prickly pear fruit extract and
DRS. A DSSC fabricated using the prickly pear extract as sensitizer mea- the dye adsorbed TiO2 were studied using UV–Vis Diffuse reflectance
sured for its I–V characteristics and electrochemical impedance was spectra (DRS) (Analytical Jena, Specord 210 Plus). The functional groups
found to present interesting results which are discussed in this paper. present in the extracted prickly pear dye were analyzed using Fourier
Transform Spectrometer (FTIR, PerkinElmer, Spectrum −100, from
4000-400 cm−1 range). The chemical composition and variation in
2. Materials and experimental methods binding energies of TiO2 upon adsorption with prickly pear fruit extract
were analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) (Thermo
2.1. Materials Fisher Scientific Co., USA, equipped with micro-focused Al-Kα source).
The I–V characteristics of DSSCs fabricated using the prickly pear extract
Fully ripened prickly pear fruits (Collected from western ghats were measured under 1 sunlight illumination at AM 1.5G standards
mountain range located in the southern part of Tamilnadu, India) with- (Class AAA simulator, Oriel Instruments). The electrochemical
out stain or bumps were taken for extracting the pulp after carefully re-
moving the thorns and seeds to be used as a sensitizer. Ethanol (99.9% A.
R grade), P25 (TiO2) powder (Degussa Germany), Ethylcellulose, α-
Terpineol (90% analytical grade) were procured from Sigma Aldrich.
Fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO, sheet resistance 10 Ω=□) glass substrates
are used as conducting electrodes. TiCl4 (TCI chemicals, 99.99%) was
used for post-treatment on the surface of the TiO2 electrode. Acetoni-
trile, Iodine, 4-tert-butylpyridine, 1-butyl-3methylimadizolium iodide
purchased from sigma Aldrich were used without any further purifica-
tion as the redox couple for photoelectrochemical studies. Platinum
paste purchased from Solaronix, Switzerland, were used for making
counter electrode. Surlyn spacer (SX1170-60, 60 μm thick from
Solaronix) was used for the sealing of DSSC device.

2.2. Preparation of dye solution

Approximately 50 g of fully ripened prickly pear fruits pulp was

taken and added with 50 ml of ethanol, stirred for 2 h to extract the
red coloured solution at room temperature. The red coloured extract
was then filtered, centrifuged at 7000 rpm for 15 min at room temper-
ature and decanted to separate it from a suspension of insoluble solid
particles. This extract was then carefully transferred into air-tight con-
tainers and covered with aluminum-foil for light protection and stored
in the refrigerator at 3 °C for further use. Fig. 1. XRD pattern of pure TiO2 and prickly pear extract adsorbed TiO2.
 N. Purushothamreddy et al. / Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy 228 (2020) 117686 3

Fig. 3. UV–Vis absorption spectra of the prickly pear fruit extract dissolved in ethanol. Inset
is the photograph of the extract in ethanol.

3.2. Morphological studies of dye adsorbed TiO2

The surface morphology of pure and prickly pear extract adsorbed

TiO2 nanoparticles coated onto an FTO substrate is shown in Fig. 2a
and b. The TiO2 nanoparticles were observed to be porous in the SEM
image for pure TiO2 (Fig. 2a). There are no morphological changes ob-
served after dye adsorption onto the TiO2 film (Fig. 2b), however, it re-
veals that the smooth dye aggregation onto the surface of TiO2
nanoparticles has made the electrode much more compact compared
to the uncoated one.

3.3. UV–visible and DRS spectrum

The absorption spectra of prickly pear fruit extract solution shown in

Fig. 3 exhibit intense broad absorption band in the visible region of solar
spectrum between 400 to 600 nm with a peak at 534 nm. This peak is
envisaged to occur due to the presence of betacyanin which acts as a
natural photosensitizer in the dye [14]. The prickly pear dye solution
was deep red-purple in colour (Inset of Fig. 3) due to the electronic tran-
sition occurring between π-π* of betacyanin present in the extract [14].
The basic structure of betacyanin is shown in Fig. 4 and this compound

Fig. 2. The SEM images of (a) pure and (b) prickly pear fruit extract adsorbed TiO2
electrodes.

impedance measurement was done in the frequency range from

100 mHz to 100 kHz using a Solartron SI- 1260 impedance analyzer.

3. Results and discussion

3.1. X-ray diffraction

The X-ray diffraction spectra of pure TiO2 and dye adsorbed TiO2 are
shown in Fig. 1. The prickly pear extract though centrifuged and filtered,
it may contain fibers and sugar in it apart from the colouring compound
of the dye. Presence of these may induce significant amorphization
upon adsorption to the TiO2 surface, to ensure this we have performed
the XRD analysis to check for the crystallinity. Fig. 1 shows the major
peaks belonging to the anatase phase of TiO2 (JCPDS No. # 73–1764)
is present without significant modification in crystallinity even after ad-
sorption of the natural dye. Fig. 4. Chemical structure of betacyanin present in the extract of prickly pear fruit.
4 N. Purushothamreddy et al. / Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy 228 (2020) 117686

Fig. 5. UV–Vis Diffuse reflectance spectra of pure and prickly pear fruit extract adsorbed
TiO2 nanoparticles. Fig. 6. The FTIR spectra of prickly pear fruit extract showing the presence of functional
groups.

has been reported to absorb in the blue to green region and reflect the
red wavelength. The diffuse reflectance spectra (DRS) of pure and such as hydroxyl, carbonyl, methyl and ethers are confirmed (Fig. 4).
prickly pear extract adsorbed TiO2 are shown in Fig. 5. Bandgap of semi- The IR spectrum shows the presence of hydroxyl (O–H) and amine
conductors in thin-film form is usually estimated from Tauc relation by (N–H) groups as a strong broadband stretching mode appearing be-
estimating the absorption coefficient ‘α’, which is dependent on film tween 3200 cm−1 - 3600 cm−1. Also, the presence of broadband
thickness. However, for opaque/coloured powder samples, estimation stretching mode of hydroxyl group, carboxylic acid, phenolic O–H and
of thickness and hence calculation of ‘α’ is cumbersome. In such a N–H around 3367 cm−1 is confirmed. In the aliphatic CH2 and CH func-
case, DRS is a suitable method for the estimation of absorption edges tional groups, a small peak at 2925 cm−1 is associated with the symmet-
of coloured powdered materials. A sufficient quantity of powder sample ric C–H (alkane) stretching vibrational mode. The small shoulder peak
was used to prevent loss by partial transmission if any during the DRS around 1722 cm−1 is due to the stretching mode of C=O (carbonyl).
measurement. The bandgap of the powder material is calculated from The conjugated C=C stretching vibration is also observed at
the onset of the linear increase of the diffuse reflectivity spectrum 1625 cm−1. The aromatic C=C stretching vibrational band confirmed
[39,40]. The sharply increasing percent reflectance constitute the linear a peak at 1405 cm−1. The C–N bending vibrational band was found to
region with the highest slope indicating an exponential drop in the ab- be present at 1240 cm−1. The functional group of ethers and esters of
sorption coefficient. The bandgap can be deduced without estimating C–O stretching vibrations was further confirmed at 1057 cm−1. The
the absorption coefficient by extrapolating the linear fit to R = 0 [40]. broad peak observed around 722 cm−1 correspond to the aromatic C–
The diffuse reflectance spectrum of pure TiO2 shows a single linear re- H bending vibration. Upon the natural dye adsorption, the transmit-
gion corresponding to the band edge absorption in the range 350 nm tance peak intensity decreased slightly indicating absorption by the
to 400 nm. The percent reflectance after 400 nm is nearly flat in the en- dye. In general, the pure anatase TiO2 compound has the O–Ti–O bond-
tire visible region. The intercept of the linear fit to R = 0 yields the direct ing around 720 cm−1. The broadened peaks around 1060 cm−1 and
bandgap value of pure TiO2 to be 3.44 eV (Fig. 5). Upon adsorbing with 790 cm−1 indicate the effective anchoring of the dye molecules onto
the natural dye, the percentage of reflectance is significantly decreased the surface of TiO2 [43,44].
indicating strong absorbance of the incident radiation in the visible re-
gion. Interestingly, the reflectance spectra of prickly pear extract 3.5. X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS)
adsorbed TiO2 shows two absorption edges, one corresponding to the
band edge of TiO2 and the other one significantly red-shifted towards The XPS measurements were performed to further analyze the
600 nm in the visible region (Fig. 5). The observed redshift is due to chemical composition and binding energies of TiO2 before and after
the chelation of betacyanin with Ti (IV) ions through the hydroxyl prickly pear fruit extracted dye adsorption. The narrow scan spectra of
(OH) groups. According to Yoon et al., the chelation of organic ligands Ti 2p levels are well resolved into doublets of Ti 2p3/2 and Ti 2p1/2 com-
with Ti (IV) ions can lead to a strong Dye-TiO2 Charge Transfer (DTCT) ponents corresponding to binding energies 458.41 eV and 464.2 eV re-
bands in the visible region [41,42]. The direct bandgap value of prickly spectively as shown in Fig. 7a. The binding energy values indicate Ti to
pear extract adsorbed TiO2 was found to be 3.63 eV and 2.47 eV respec- be present in 4+ charge state which is matching with the existing liter-
tively in the lower and higher wavelength region. The appearance of the ature [45]. Upon natural dye adsorption, the peak positions are not
second reflectance region indicates that the natural dye has been shifted, instead, the intensity of the peaks decreased significantly indi-
adsorbed effectively onto the surface of TiO2. The onset of the second cating the dye component to intimately adhere over the surface of the
linear region starts around 540 nm which is in the same region as that TiO2 nanoparticles.
of the absorption peak of the prickly pear extract solution (Fig. 3). This The narrow scan XPS spectra of O 1s state (Fig. 7b) with binding en-
matching of wavelength indicates that the dye adsorbed onto the TiO2 ergy at 529.6 eV is characteristic of O2− state corresponding to O–Ti–O
surface effectively absorbs the incident photons. metal-oxide bonding. A subtle shoulder at the base of O 1s peak is also
witnessed at 531.6 eV which is reported to arise from traces of OH
3.4. Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) analysis adsorbed onto the surface of pure TiO2 [45]. Upon natural dye adsorp-
tion, the intensity of the O 1s peak decreased considerably and a peak
The chemically active functional groups of prickly pear fruit dye ex- with significant intensity belonging to OH group is observed at higher
tracted using ethanol as a solvent and identified by FTIR spectroscopy is binding energy side at 532.4 ± 0.1 eV [46]. The shift of OH binding en-
shown in Fig. 6. The presence of functional groups in the betacyanin ergy peak was 0.9 eV which is due to the increased number of hydroxyl
 N. Purushothamreddy et al. / Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy 228 (2020) 117686 5

Fig. 8. The J-V characteristic curves of DSSC fabricated using prickly pear fruit extract is
compared with N719 Dye.

exhibited a maximum efficiency of 2.06% [26], with a FF value was of

0.60. Recently, R. Ramamoorthy et al. [49], showed an efficiency of
0.47% and a FF value of 0.69 for the prickly pear fruit extract from the
species Opuntia dillenii (Dye absorption at 517 nm). In our case, the
DSSC fabricated using the extract of Opuntia ficus-Indica (Dye absorp-
tion at 534 nm) exhibited an efficiency of 0.56% and FF of 0.85. The ob-
tained Voc and FF values are higher compared to DSSCs fabricated using
various species of prickly pear fruits reported in the literature. The lower
performance of the cell can be attributed to the high charge transfer re-
sistance at the TiO2/dye/electrolyte interface. The presence of carbonyl
and hydroxyl groups in the prickly pear extract help in better anchoring
and effective regeneration of the iodine-based redox couple with the
TiO2 nanoparticles [26]. This intimate adherence and better interaction
between the prickly pear dye molecules with the surface of TiO2 nano-
Fig. 7. The XPS spectra of (a) Ti 2p levels and (b) O1s levels of pure and prickly pear extract particles lead to a better charge-transfer performance thereby improv-
adsorbed TiO2. ing the fill factor [44]. It has been reported in the literature that the
crude extract to perform better in the case of anthocyanin attributing
(OH) groups from the prickly pear extract anchored onto the surface of to the presence of co-pigments [12] which may also be envisaged in
TiO2 as also identified in the FTIR spectra (Fig. 6). The OH groups our case.
adsorbed onto a metal-oxide surface is envisaged to promote effective
trapping of photoelectrons and holes leading to reduced electron-hole 3.7. Electrochemical Impedance Studies (EIS)
pair recombination rate [47,48]. Therefore, the DRS, FTIR and XPS data
clearly confirm that the natural prickly pear fruit extract dye is attached Electrochemical impedance studies (EIS) were carried out to analyze
intimately onto the surface of TiO2. the interfacial electron transfer, electron recombination process and the
resistance involved between the internal components of the fabricated
3.6. Photoelectrical properties of DSSC fabricated using prickly pear fruit DSSC devices. The Nyquist plot along with the equivalent circuit
extract (Fig. 9a inset) and bode plots are shown in Fig. 9 (a and b). The Nyquist
plot of the DSSC device exhibits two semicircles, one corresponding to
Current density-voltage (J–V) characteristics of the DSSC fabricated the high-frequency region and the other semi-circle corresponding to
using natural prickly pear and N719 dye were measured under standard the mid-frequency frequency region. R1 is the Faraday or charge-
AM 1.5G conditions (Fig. 8). The overall photo conversion efficiency and transfer resistance that is developed at the interface of redox reaction
fill factor (FF) were calculated by using the relations given below. I− −
3 /I at the Pt counter electrode/electrolyte interface. The next semicir-
cle at mid-frequency region is attributed to the internal electron transfer
η ð%Þ ¼ Is c V o c F F resistance R2 at the TiO2/dye/electrolyte interfaces which is related to
ð1Þ
Pi n the charge recombination of the electrons [50,51]. Here, Rs, R1 and R2
values are calculated by fitting the equivalent circuit. The Rs
Imx Vmx
FF ð%Þ ¼ ð2Þ
Jsc Voc
Table 1
The J-V characteristic parameters of DSSC fabricated using prickly pear fruit extract in
The natural dye-sensitized DSSC device performance parameters in comparison with N719 Dye.
comparison with N719 dye are listed in Table 1. The photo-conversion
Sample Jsc (mA/cm2) Voc (V) FF η (%) Rs (Ω) R1 (Ω) R2 (Ω)
efficiency was less than the traditional ruthenium dye (N719).
The DSSC fabricated using wild Sicilian prickly pear fruit (Opuntia Prickly pear extract 1.17 0.56 0.85 0.56 21 226 2738
N719 5.1 0.86 0.68 3.05 24 132 7
Vulgaris) dye extracted in acidic medium (Dye absorption at 450 nm)
6 N. Purushothamreddy et al. / Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy 228 (2020) 117686

where fmax is the maximum frequency of the peak obtained in the

middle-frequency region [38]. Here, the τe of DSSC from prickly pear ex-
tract was 0.12 ms which was slightly lower than 0.15 ms for the N719
reference cell. This indicates that the charge recombination is higher
in the prickly pear DSSC cell leading to a decrease in the value of Jsc.

4. Conclusions

In this work, we have experimentally confirmed that the prickly

pear fruit extract could be used as a natural, low cost and environmental
friendly photosensitizer in dye-sensitized solar cells for energy harvest-
ing. When compared with the conventional N719 dye, the prickly pear
fruit extract is highly economical and free from toxicity which gives
an added advantage to this natural dye. The presence of betacyanin
with a deep red-purple colour solution is confirmed from the FTIR and
UV–Vis measurements. After the natural dye adsorption, the reflectance
edge of TiO2 red-shifted to the higher wavelength region is confirmed
from the DRS data. The spectroscopic measurements collectively indi-
cated effective anchoring of the dye molecules onto the surface of TiO2
which is mainly due to the presence of hydroxyl and carbonyl groups
in the prickly pear extract. Though the prickly pear dye adsorbed DSSC
showed a conversion efficiency lower than other cactus based natural
dyes, the values of open-circuit voltage and fill factor were higher. The
performance of the prickly pear dye can be improved by optimizing sev-
eral other parameters like dye isolation and purification, altering the
dye loading duration, pre-treatment of the photoanode, etc.

Acknowledgments

The authors Dr. DPJ and NPR thank the SERB, Govt. of India for
research grant under the file No.: YSS/2014/000191. Dr. G.V and R.D ac-
knowledge the Department of Science and Technology, New Delhi, India
for the financial support through DST-INSPIRE Faculty award (IFA-14-
MS-28). The authors also thank NIT-Warangal for research seed grant
(2014) towards procuring the basic facilities.

Fig. 9. The (a) Nyquist plot of the DSSC, inset are the enlarged plot and the equivalent
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