Photosensitizers for Photogalvanic Cells in the Chemistry Classroom

Claudia Bohrmann-Linde^1, and Diana Zeller¹

¹Department of Chemistry Education, University of Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 18, 72076 Tübingen, Germany

Cite this paper

Claudia Bohrmann-Linde and Diana Zeller. Photosensitizers for Photogalvanic Cells in the Chemistry Classroom. World Journal of Chemical Education. 2018; 6(1):36-42. doi: 10.12691/WJCE-6-1-7

Abstract

Alternative solar cells on the basis of titanium dioxide are subject of intense research. For the integration of this topic into the chemistry curriculum a set of experiments with photogalvanic cells has been developed. Titania phototelectrodes need to be irradiated with UV light, but the spectrum of solar light contains only little UV radiation. Thus photosensitizers are needed that harvest visible light. Here we present a series of experiments with different dye solutions that can serve as an alternative to the priorly used anthocyanins in the chemistry classroom. The dyes presented are more stable and also work as sensitizers in titania-based photogalvanic cells.

Keywords

titanium dioxide, titania, photogalvanic cells, photosensitization, light, natural dyes, semiconductor, solar cells, hands-on chemistry-lab, sustainable development education

Copyright

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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