Design of Truxene-Based Organic Dyes for High-Efficiency Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells Employing Cobalt Redox Shuttle

Developing photosensitizers with high extinction coefficients, proper electronic structures, and steric properties is warranted for the dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) employing one-electron outer-sphere redox shuttles. DSCs incorporating Co(II/III)tris(1,10-phenanthroline)-based redox electrolyte and three synthesized organic dyes as photosensitizers (M14, M18, and M19) are described. The hexapropyltruxene group on the dyes retards the rate of interfacial back electron transfer from the conduction band of the nanocrystalline titanium dioxide film to the [Co(III)(phenanthroline)3]3+ ions, which enables attainment of high photovoltages approaching 0.9 V. The measurement of photocurrent transients shows that the mass transport limitation of the cobalt redox shuttle has been largely removed by using thin TiO2 films. DSCs sensitized with M14 in combination with the cobalt redox shuttle yield a DSC with an overall power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 7.2% under 100 mW cm–2 AM1.5 G illumination. The influence...

[1]  Michael Grätzel,et al.  An alternative efficient redox couple for the dye-sensitized solar cell system. , 2003, Chemistry.

[2]  G. Boschloo,et al.  Design of organic dyes and cobalt polypyridine redox mediators for high-efficiency dye-sensitized solar cells. , 2010, Journal of the American Chemical Society.

[3]  Jae Hong Kim,et al.  Molecular design of donor-acceptor-type cruciform dyes for efficient dyes-sensitized solar cells , 2010 .

[4]  Mingfei Xu,et al.  Electrical and photophysical analyses on the impacts of arylamine electron donors in cyclopentadithiophene dye-sensitized solar cells , 2011 .

[5]  M. Grätzel,et al.  On the relevance of mass transport in thin layer nanocrystalline photoelectrochemical solar cells , 1996 .

[6]  Mohammad Khaja Nazeeruddin,et al.  Di-branched di-anchoring organic dyes for dye-sensitized solar cells , 2009 .

[7]  Michael Grätzel,et al.  An organic redox electrolyte to rival triiodide/iodide in dye-sensitized solar cells. , 2010, Nature chemistry.

[8]  Kazuhiro Sayama,et al.  Efficient eosin y dye-sensitized solar cell containing Br-/Br3- electrolyte. , 2005, The journal of physical chemistry. B.

[9]  Qing Wang,et al.  Cobalt Redox Mediators for Ruthenium-Based Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells: A Combined Impedance Spectroscopy and Near-IR Transmittance Study , 2011 .

[10]  H. Pettersson,et al.  Dye-sensitized solar cells. , 2010, Chemical Reviews.

[11]  Anders Hagfeldt,et al.  Characteristics of the iodide/triiodide redox mediator in dye-sensitized solar cells. , 2009, Accounts of chemical research.

[12]  J. Durrant,et al.  Catalysis of recombination and its limitation on open circuit voltage for dye sensitized photovoltaic cells using phthalocyanine dyes. , 2008, Journal of the American Chemical Society.

[13]  Hironori Arakawa,et al.  Molecular Design of Coumarin Dyes for Efficient Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells , 2003 .

[14]  M. Grätzel,et al.  A low-cost, high-efficiency solar cell based on dye-sensitized colloidal TiO2 films , 1991, Nature.

[15]  Seth R. Marder,et al.  Energy levels, charge injection, charge recombination and dye regeneration dynamics for donor–acceptor π-conjugated organic dyes in mesoscopic TiO2 sensitized solar cells , 2011 .

[16]  Peter C. Searson,et al.  Pseudohalogens for Dye-Sensitized TiO2 Photoelectrochemical Cells , 2001 .

[17]  Michael Grätzel,et al.  Porphyrin-Sensitized Solar Cells with Cobalt (II/III)–Based Redox Electrolyte Exceed 12 Percent Efficiency , 2011, Science.

[18]  Anders Hagfeldt,et al.  Two novel carbazole dyes for dye-sensitized solar cells with open-circuit voltages up to 1 V based on Br(-)/Br(3)(-) electrolytes. , 2009, Organic letters.

[19]  Anders Hagfeldt,et al.  Light-Induced Redox Reactions in Nanocrystalline Systems , 1995 .

[20]  Hidetoshi Miura,et al.  High‐Efficiency Organic‐Dye‐ Sensitized Solar Cells Controlled by Nanocrystalline‐TiO2 Electrode Thickness , 2006 .

[21]  M. Grätzel,et al.  Dye-sensitized solar cells incorporating a "liquid" hole-transporting material. , 2006, Nano letters.

[22]  G. Meyer,et al.  An Acetylacetonate-Based Semiconductor−Sensitizer Linkage , 1996 .

[23]  Jun Chen,et al.  Correlating Dye Adsorption Behavior with the Open-Circuit Voltage of Triphenylamine-Based Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells , 2010 .

[24]  Monica Lira-Cantu,et al.  Influence of doped anions on poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) as hole conductors for iodine-free solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells. , 2008, Journal of the American Chemical Society.

[25]  Anders Hagfeldt,et al.  How the nature of triphenylamine-polyene dyes in dye-sensitized solar cells affects the open-circuit voltage and electron lifetimes. , 2010, Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids.

[26]  M. Liang,et al.  Efficient dye-sensitized solar cells with triarylamine organic dyes featuring functionalized-truxene unit , 2011 .

[27]  A. Hagfeldt,et al.  Organic redox couples and organic counter electrode for efficient organic dye-sensitized solar cells. , 2011, Journal of the American Chemical Society.

[28]  Ashraful Islam,et al.  Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells with Conversion Efficiency of 11.1% , 2006 .

[29]  S. Sasaki,et al.  Chlorophyll-a derivatives with various hydrocarbon ester groups for efficient dye-sensitized solar cells: static and ultrafast evaluations on electron injection and charge collection processes. , 2010, Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids.

[30]  Jing Zhang,et al.  Engineering organic sensitizers for iodine-free dye-sensitized solar cells: red-shifted current response concomitant with attenuated charge recombination. , 2011, Journal of the American Chemical Society.

[31]  T. Hamann,et al.  Impedance Investigation of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells Employing Outer-Sphere Redox Shuttles , 2010 .

[32]  Peng Wang,et al.  An Energetic and Kinetic View on Cyclopentadithiophene Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells: The Influence of Fluorine vs Ethyl Substituent , 2011 .

[33]  C. Michael Elliott,et al.  Mass Transport of Polypyridyl Cobalt Complexes in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells with Mesoporous TiO2 Photoanodes , 2008 .

[34]  Molecular design of triarylamine dyes incorporating phenylene spacer and the influence of alkoxy substituent on the performance of dye-sensitized solar cells , 2011 .

[35]  Peng Wang,et al.  Efficient organic dye-sensitized thin-film solar cells based on the tris(1,10-phenanthroline)cobalt(II/III) redox shuttle , 2011 .

[36]  Jae Hong Kim,et al.  Molecular Design of Organic Dyes with Double Electron Acceptor for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell , 2009 .

[37]  M. Grätzel,et al.  Efficient Lateral Electron Transport inside a Monolayer of Aromatic Amines Anchored on Nanocrystalline Metal Oxide Films. , 1998, The journal of physical chemistry. B.

[38]  Thomas W. Hamann,et al.  Performance Enhancement and Limitations of Cobalt Bipyridyl Redox Shuttles in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells , 2009 .

[39]  Gang Zhou,et al.  Effect of Cations in Coadsorbate on Charge Recombination and Conduction Band Edge Movement in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells , 2010 .

[40]  G. Boschloo,et al.  Effects of Driving Forces for Recombination and Regeneration on the Photovoltaic Performance of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells using Cobalt Polypyridine Redox Couples , 2011 .

[41]  Gang Zhou,et al.  Incorporating Benzotriazole Moiety to Construct D–A−π–A Organic Sensitizers for Solar Cells: Significant Enhancement of Open-Circuit Photovoltage with Long Alkyl Group , 2011 .

[42]  H. Sugihara,et al.  Significant efficiency improvement of the black dye-sensitized solar cell through protonation of TiO2 films. , 2005, Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids.

[43]  P. Liska,et al.  Acid-Base Equilibria of (2,2'-Bipyridyl-4,4'-dicarboxylic acid)ruthenium(II) Complexes and the Effect of Protonation on Charge-Transfer Sensitization of Nanocrystalline Titania. , 1999, Inorganic chemistry.

[44]  Mingfei Xu,et al.  Mesoscopic titania solar cells with the tris(1,10-phenanthroline)cobalt redox shuttle: uniped versus biped organic dyes , 2011 .

[45]  Juan Bisquert,et al.  Influence of electrolyte in transport and recombination in dye-sensitized solar cells studied by impedance spectroscopy , 2005 .

[46]  Leone Spiccia,et al.  High-efficiency dye-sensitized solar cells with ferrocene-based electrolytes. , 2011, Nature chemistry.

[47]  Song Xue,et al.  Organic Dyes Incorporating Bis-hexapropyltruxeneamino Moiety for Efficient Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells , 2011 .

[48]  Hiromu Kobayashi,et al.  Temperature dependence of open-circuit voltage in dye-sensitized solar cells , 2009 .

[49]  Alexander M. Spokoyny,et al.  Electronic tuning of nickel-based bis(dicarbollide) redox shuttles in dye-sensitized solar cells. , 2010, Angewandte Chemie.

[50]  Takurou N. Murakami,et al.  The 2,2,6,6‐Tetramethyl‐1‐piperidinyloxy Radical: An Efficient, Iodine‐ Free Redox Mediator for Dye‐Sensitized Solar Cells , 2008 .

[51]  M. Liang,et al.  Organic dyes incorporating the benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b']dithiophene moiety for efficient dye-sensitized solar cells. , 2011, Organic letters.

[52]  J. Teuscher,et al.  Efficient electron transfer and sensitizer regeneration in stable pi-extended tetrathiafulvalene-sensitized solar cells. , 2010, Journal of the American Chemical Society.

[53]  Jiann T. Lin,et al.  Synthesis and applications of novel acceptor–donor–acceptor organic dyes with dithienopyrrole- and fluorene-cores for dye-sensitized solar cells , 2011 .

[54]  A. W. Addison,et al.  Conversion constants for redox potentials measured versus different reference electrodes in acetonitrile solutions at 25°C , 2000 .