Environmental & Analytical Toxicology

Torres B

Publications

• Research Article
  Asphaltene as Light Harvesting Material in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell: Resurrection of Ancient Leaves
  Author(s): Abujnah RE, Sharif H, Torres B, Castillo K, Gupta V and Chianelli RRAbujnah RE, Sharif H, Torres B, Castillo K, Gupta V and Chianelli RR
  
  Asphaltenes are remnants of ancient photosynthetic plants and are today considered waste hydrocarbons that must be removed from petroleum for use as fuel and often find their use as road tar. This study reports the first time their use in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSCs) in which light is converted to electricity with conversion efficiencies approaching 1.8%. Extracted fractions of asphaltenes from Mexican Altamira crude oil were used as light absorbers in TiO2 based DSSCs. The photovoltaic performances of the cells were analyzed by determining the I-V cell parameters such as OCV (open-circuit voltage), SCC (short-circuit current), FF (fill factor), and SR (series resistance). The overall energy conversion efficiency was also measured to correlate the effect of the different asphaltene portions that created significant improvement of the solar cell param.. Read More»
  DOI: 10.4172/2161-0525.1000345

  Abstract PDF