A combined spectroscopic and TDDFT study of natural dyes extracted from fruit peels of Citrus reticulata and Musa acuminata for dye-sensitized solar cells.

This study reports the novel spectroscopic investigations and enhanced the electron transfers of Citrus reticulata and Musa acuminata fruit peels as the photosensitizers for the dye-sensitized solar cells. The calculated TD-DFT-UB3LYP/6-31+G(d,p)-IEFPCM(UAKS), experiment spectra of ultra-violet-visible spectroscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy studies indicate the main flavonoid (hesperidin and gallocatechin) structures of the dye extracts. The optimized flavonoid structures are calculated using Density functional theory (DFT) at 6-31+G(d,p) level.