High extinction coefficient "antenna" dye in solid-state dye-sensitised solar cells : a photo-physical and electronic study

Title data

Snaith, Henry J. ; Karthikeyan, Chedarampet S. ; Petrozza, Annamaria ; Teuscher, Joël ; Moser, Jacques E. ; Nazeeruddin, Mohammad K. ; Thelakkat, Mukundan ; Grätzel, Michael:
High extinction coefficient "antenna" dye in solid-state dye-sensitised solar cells : a photo-physical and electronic study.
In: The Journal of Physical Chemistry C. Vol. 112 (2008) Issue 20 . - pp. 7562-7566.
ISSN 1932-7455
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/jp801714u

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Abstract in another language

We present a photophysical and device-based investigation of a new bipyridyl−NCS ruthenium complex sensitizer with an extended π system, in both sensitized TiO2 and incorporated into solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells. We compare this new sensitizer to an analog dye without the extended π system. We observe very similar excited-state absorption spectra and charge recombination kinetics for the two systems. However, the π-extended senstizer has a phenomenally enhanced molar extinction coefficient which translates into far greater light harvesting and current collection in solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells. We also infer from transient photovoltage measurements that positioning the pendent extended π system away from the TiO2 surface has induced a favorable dipole shift, generating enhanced open-circuit voltage. The resulting power conversion efficiency for the solar cell has been increased from 2.4% to 3.2% when comparing the new sensitizer to an analogy with no pendent group.