Highly soluble energy relay dyes for dye-sensitized solar cells

Margulis, George Y.; Lim, Bogyu; Hardin, Brian E.; Unger, Eva L.; Yum, Jun-Ho; Feckl, Johann M.; Fattakhova-Rohlfing, Dina; Bein, Thomas; Grätzel, Michael; Sellinger, Alan and McGehee, Michael D. (28. May 2013): Highly soluble energy relay dyes for dye-sensitized solar cells. In: Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, Vol. 15, No. 27: pp. 11306-11312

Abstract

High solubility is a requirement for energy relay dyes (ERDs) to absorb a large portion of incident light and significantly improve the efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Two benzonitrile-soluble ERDs, BL302 and BL315, were synthesized, characterized, and resulted in a 65% increase in the efficiency of TT1-sensitized DSSCs. The high solubility (180 mM) of these ERDs allows for absorption of over 95% of incident light at their peak wavelength. The overall power conversion efficiency of DSSCs with BL302 and BL315 was found to be limited by their energy transfer efficiency of approximately 70%. Losses due to large pore size, dynamic collisional quenching of the ERD, energy transfer to desorbed sensitizing dyes and static quenching by complex formation were investigated and it was found that a majority of the losses are caused by the formation of statically quenched ERDs in solution.

• Item Type: Journal article
• Form of publication: Publisher's Version
• Faculties: Chemistry and Pharmacy
• Subjects: 500 Science > 540 Chemistry
• ISSN: 1463-9076
• Alliance/National Licence: This publication is with permission of the rights owner freely accessible due to an Alliance licence and a national licence (funded by the DFG, German Research Foundation) respectively.
• Language: English