Synthesis and Characterization of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells Enhanced with Carbon Dots for Improved Performance

A new dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) was fabricated by incorporating a percentage of 2% of dialyzed carbon dots (CDs) made by urea and citric acid as precursor (100:1) into a standard Ruthenizer 620 dye system. The carbon dots were subjected to a dialysis purification process before integration. The resulting DSSCs exhibited a power performance enhancement compared to cells sensitized with only Ruthenizer 620. This improvement is at-tributed to favorable bandgap adaptation between the LUMO level of the carbon dots and the metal oxide conduction band, facilitating more efficient electron injection and improved light harvesting.