Laboratorio de Nanotecnología Ambiental, Escuela de Ingeniería y Ciencias, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Monterrey, N.L., C.P. 64849, Mexico.
Laboratorio de Nanotecnología Ambiental, Escuela de Ingeniería y Ciencias, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Monterrey, N.L., C.P. 64849, Mexico.
J Biotechnol. 2021 May 20;332:29-53. doi: 10.1016/j.jbiotec.2021.03.013. Epub 2021 Mar 23.
Dye-sensitized solar cells have been of great interest in photovoltaic technology due to their capacity to convert energy at a low cost. The use of natural pigments means replacing expensive chemical synthesis processes by easily extractable pigments that are non-toxic and environmentally friendly. Although most of the pigments used for this purpose are obtained from higher plants, there are potential alternative sources that have been underexploited and have shown encouraging results, since pigments can also be obtained from organisms like bacteria, cyanobacteria, microalgae, yeast, and molds, which have the potential of being cultivated in bioreactors or optimized by biotechnological processes. The aforementioned organisms are sources of diverse sensitizers like photosynthetic pigments, accessory pigments, and secondary metabolites such as chlorophylls, bacteriochlorophylls, carotenoids, and phycobiliproteins. Moreover, retinal proteins, photosystems, and reaction centers from these organisms can also act as sensitizers. In this review, the use of natural sensitizers extracted from algae, cyanobacteria, bacteria, archaea, and fungi is assessed. The reported photoconversion efficiencies vary from 0.001 % to 4.6 % for sensitizers extracted from algae and microalgae, 0.004 to 1.67 % for bacterial sensitizers, 0.07-0.23 % for cyanobacteria, 0.09 to 0.049 % for archaea and 0.26-2.3 % for pigments from fungi.
染料敏化太阳能电池因其能够以低成本转化能量而在光伏技术中受到极大关注。使用天然色素意味着可以用易于提取的、无毒且环保的色素替代昂贵的化学合成工艺。虽然用于此目的的大多数色素是从高等植物中获得的，但也有一些潜在的替代来源尚未得到充分开发，并取得了令人鼓舞的结果，因为色素也可以从细菌、蓝藻、微藻、酵母和霉菌等生物体中获得，这些生物体有可能在生物反应器中培养或通过生物技术过程进行优化。上述生物体是各种敏化剂的来源，如光合作用色素、辅助色素和次生代谢物，如叶绿素、细菌叶绿素、类胡萝卜素和藻胆蛋白。此外，这些生物体的视网膜蛋白、光合系统和反应中心也可以作为敏化剂。在本综述中，评估了从藻类、蓝藻、细菌、古菌和真菌中提取的天然敏化剂的使用。据报道，从藻类和微藻中提取的敏化剂的光电转换效率从 0.001%到 4.6%不等，细菌敏化剂的光电转换效率从 0.004%到 1.67%不等，蓝藻的光电转换效率从 0.07%到 0.23%不等，古菌的光电转换效率从 0.09%到 0.049%不等，真菌色素的光电转换效率从 0.26%到 2.3%不等。
