Abstract
Chlorophyll c is widely existed in seaweeds and planktons as a light-harvesting pigment just like chlorophylls a and b in green plant. Chlorophyll c has a carboxyl group which directly attached to the conjugation system of the porphyrin skeleton, and therefore, it has a high potential as natural resourced dye sensitizer for organic solar cells. In this paper, Chlorophyll c1 (Chl c1) and Chlorophyll c2 (Chl c2) were extracted from Undaria pinnatifida(Wakame). They were used as sensitizers in titania-based Graezel-type dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The solar energy-to-electricity conversion efficiency (η) determined for each sensitizer were as follows: Chl c1, η = 3.4%; Chl c2, η = 4.6%. Their oxidation products which we call Chl c1', Chl c2'were also examined, however their performance was lower than the Chl c1 and Chl c2. The Chl c2-sensitized solar cell exhibited the highest value.
