The Performance Evaluation of Meso-Tetraphenyl Porphyrin and Azo Dyes as Photosensitizers in Dye-sensitized Solar Cells.

The photovoltaic properties of five different mono-azo function and meso-tetraphenyl porphyrin dyes have been investigated by computational DFT/TDDFT calculations and measurement of the J-V properties of their cells. The photovoltaic efficiency of the cells based on these dyes were determined by both experimental and theoretical methods. The efficiency-to-cost ratios of the azo-dye cells showed that they could be cheaper substitutes to porphyrin-based cells.

Modification of African breadfruit (Treculia africana, Decne) kernel starch: Physicochemical, morphological, pasting, and thermal properties.

The need for starch to meet the ever-increasing industrial applications and its inherent problems in the native state have led to researches into unconventional starch sources and starch modifications, respectively. In this study, starch was isolated from African breadfruit kernels and modified to produce acetylated, AC, oxidized, OX, and acid-thinned, AT, starches. The effects of modifications on the native starch, NA, were examined through physicochemical, pasting, morphological and thermal properties.