High Excitation Transfer Efficiency from Energy Relay Dyes in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

Brian E. Hardin, Jun-Ho Yum, Eric T. Hoke, Young Chul Jun, Peter Péchy, Tomás Torres, Mark L. Brongersma, Md. Khaja Nazeeruddin, Michael Grätzel, Michael D. McGehee

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

103 Scopus citations

Abstract

The energy relay dye, 4-(Dicyanomethylene)-2-methyl-6-(4- dimethylaminostyryl)-4H-pyran (DCM), was used with a near-infrared sensitizing dye, TT1, to increase the overall power conversion efficiency of a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC) from 3.5% to 4.5%. The unattached DCM dyes exhibit an average excitation transfer efficiency (EÌ?TE) of 96% inside TT1-covered, mesostructured TiO2 films. Further performance increases were limited by the solubility of DCM in an acetonitrile based electrolyte. This demonstration shows that energy relay dyes can be efficiently implemented in optimized dye-sensitized solar cells, but also highlights the need to design highly soluble energy relay dyes with high molar extinction coefficients. © 2010 American Chemical Society.
Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)3077-3083
Number of pages7
JournalNano Letters
Volume10
Issue number8
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 11 2010
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2020-10-01
Acknowledgements: B. E. Hardin would like to thank Pascal Comte for preparing the TiO2 films and BET measurements. J.-H. Yum thanks Dr. Shaik M. Zakeeruddin for preparing the electrolytes. This work was primarily supported by the Office of Naval Research Contract No. N00014-08-1-1163. M. McGehee acknowledges support from the Center for Advanced Molecular Photovoltaics through a grant from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, and T. Torres acknowledges support from ESF-SOHYD Program, COST Action D35, and the EU Project ROBUST DSC, FP7-Energy-2007-1-RTD, No. 212792, MEC, Spain (CTQ2008-00418/BQU, CONSOLIDER-INGENIO 2010 CDS 2007-00010, PLE2009-0070, PSE-120000-2009-008 FOTOMOL), and CAM (MADRISOLAR-2, S2009/PPQ/1533).
This publication acknowledges KAUST support, but has no KAUST affiliated authors.

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