Abstract
Correlation between the photovoltaic activity and adsorption characteristics of a TiO2 electrode coated with an organo-dendritic dye containing three chromophores in one molecule ((2E,2′E,2″E)-3, 3′,3″-(10,10′,10″-(6,6′,6″-(4,4′, 4″-(ethane-1,1,1-triyl)tris(benzene-4,1-diyl))tris (oxy)tris(hexane-6,1- diyl))tris(10H-phenothiazine-10,3-diyl))tris(2-cyanoacrylic acid), triple-PTZ) was investigated by applying it in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The photovoltaic performance of the DSSCs utilizing the Triple-PTZ dyes varied based on the solvent conditions employed for adsorbing the dye on the TiO2 electrode surface. Aggregation of the Triple-PTZ dyes on the electrode surface was induced in the poor solvent system, with a consequent increase in the total amount of Triple-PTZ dye, which is directly adsorbed on the TiO2 surface. However, incomplete tethering of the Triple-PTZ dye molecules onto the TiO2 surface substantially reduced the short-circuit current (J sc). A good solvent promoted uniform adsorption of the Triple-PTZ dye on the TiO2 surface, with a consequent enhancement of the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the fabricated DSSCs up to 4.90%, which is much higher than the PCE of 1.93% obtained from the DSSC fabricated using the poor solvent system. The correlation between the adsorption properties of the photosensitizing Triple-PTZ dyes on the TiO2 electrode and the photovoltaic performance was intensively investigated with the help of ATR-FT-IR spectroscopy, the incident photon-to-electron conversion efficiency (IPCE), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) analysis.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 130-135 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Synthetic Metals |
Volume | 188 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2014 Feb |
Keywords
- Adsorption mechanism
- Dendritic organic dyes
- Dye-sensitized solar cells
- Photovoltaic property
- Solvent effect
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Mechanics of Materials
- Mechanical Engineering
- Metals and Alloys
- Materials Chemistry