Red-absorbing cationic acceptor dyes for photocathodes in tandem solar cells

Christopher J. Wood, Ming Cheng, Charlotte A. Clark, Raphael Horvath, Ian P. Clark, Michelle L. Hamilton, Michael Towrie, Michael W. George, Licheng Sun, Xichuan Yang, Elizabeth A. Gibson

Research output: Journal PublicationArticlepeer-review

52 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

A pair of new donor-π-acceptor dyes that absorb toward the red region of the visible spectrum (CAD 1 and CAD 2) utilizing indolium cationic acceptor units have been synthesized for use in p-type dye-sensitized solar cells (p-DSC). Their optical and electrochemical properties were determined experimentally, including application of ultrafast transient absorption and time-resolved infrared spectroscopies. Our results are supported by computational modeling. NiO-based p-DSCs with CAD 1 and CAD 2 gave short-circuit photocurrent densities of 3.6 and 3.3 mA cm-2, respectively, which are substantially higher than that of any previous red-absorbing p-DSC. These results are a step toward tandem dye-sensitized solar cells that absorb higher-energy photons at the TiO2 anode and lower-energy photons at the NiO cathode. Routes to further improve the efficiency of NiO DSCS are also discussed.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)16536-16546
Number of pages11
JournalJournal of Physical Chemistry C
Volume118
Issue number30
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 31 Jul 2014
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • General Energy
  • Physical and Theoretical Chemistry
  • Surfaces, Coatings and Films

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