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Liquid Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

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Molecular Devices for Solar Energy Conversion and Storage

Part of the book series: Green Chemistry and Sustainable Technology ((GCST))

Abstract

Dye-sensitized solar cells represent a type of device which converts solar energy into electricity based on molecular components. This is an attractive alternative for solar energy conversion because such devices can be made as low-cost, colorful, and transparent solar cell in contrast to the traditional semiconductor-based solar cells. In this chapter, we will give an overview of all molecule-based components in this kind of solar cell and also comment on its working principle, the dye design, the dye arrangement, the electrolyte composition, as well as the counter electrode materials. The standard types of dye-sensitized solar cells are regarded as n-type, but at the end, p-type and tandem dye-sensitized solar cells will also be introduced.

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Acknowledgements

We greatly thank Dr. Nick Vlachopoulos at École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) for kindly discussion on DSSCs historical part. We also gratefully acknowledge financial support from The Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation and The Swedish Energy Agency.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry—Ångström Laboratory, Physical Chemistry, Uppsala University, 751 20, Uppsala, Sweden

    Haining Tian

  2. School of Chemical Science and Engineering, Applied Physical Chemistry, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Teknikringen 30, 100 44, Stockholm, Sweden

    Lars Kloo

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  1. Haining Tian
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Correspondence to Haining Tian or Lars Kloo .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry—Ångström Laboratory, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

    Haining Tian

  2. Department of Chemistry—Ångström Laboratory, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

    Gerrit Boschloo

  3. École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Anders Hagfeldt

Appendix—Abbreviations

Appendix—Abbreviations

DSSCs

Dye-sensitized solar cells

n-DSSCs

n-type dye-sensitized solar cells

p-DSSCs

p-type dye-sensitized solar cells

t-DSSCs

Tandem dye-sensitized solar cells

CCD

Charge-coupled device

CB

Conduction band

IR

Infrared

FTO

Fluorine-doped tin oxide

CE

Counter electrode

R/R

Redox couple

S

Ground state dye

S*

Excited state dye

ES*/S+/ES*/S-

Energy level of the excited state dye

ES/S+

Energy level of the oxidized ground state

ES/S-

Energy level of the reduced state

CV

Cyclic voltammetry

HOMO

The Highest Occupied Molecular Orbital

LUMO

The Lowest Unoccupied Molecular Orbital

ΔE 0–0

Energy of the 0–0 transition

PL

Photoluminescence

η

The overall light-to-electricity conversion efficiency

J SC

Short-circuit photocurrent

V OC

Open-circuit voltage

FF

Fill factor

P in

Intensity of the incident light

Pmax

Maximum power output

IPCE

Incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency

ER/R+/Eredox

Energy level (redox potential) of the electrolyte redox couple

EQE

External quantum efficiency

J SC (λ)

Short-circuit current generated under monochromatic light

Φλ

Photon flux

λ

Light wavelength

e

Elementary charge

\( \eta \) A

Light harvesting efficiency

\( \eta \) inj

Electron injection efficiency

\( \eta \) reg

Dye regeneration efficiency

\( \eta \) col

Charge collection efficiency

kinj

Rate constant of electron injection

ks*

Rate constant of excited state relaxation rate

TA

Transient absorption

fs

Femtosecond

ps

Picosecond

ECB

Energy of the CB edge

−ΔG inj

Free energy difference between ES*/S+ and ECB

kreg

Rate constants of regeneration

krec

Rate constants of recombination

−ΔG reg )

Free energy difference between ES/S+ and ER/R+

τ tr

Electron transport time

τ rec

Charge recombination time

IMVS

Intensity-Modulated Photovoltage Spectroscopy

IMPS

Intensity-Modulated Photocurrent Spectroscopy

R rec

Recombination resistance

R tr

Transport resistant

MLCT

Metal-to-ligand charge transfer

D

Electron donor

π

Conjugated linker

A

Electron acceptor

CDCA

Chenodeoxycholic acid

DMPII

1,2-dimethyl-3-n-propylimidazolium iodide

TBP

4-tert-butylpyridine

Co3+/2+ (bpy)3

Cobalt(III/II) tris(2,2′-bipyridine)

CPDT

Cyclopentadithiophene

DCRD

2-(1,1-dicyanomethylene)rhodanine

SAM

Self-assembled monolayer

AFM

Atomic force microscopy

QCMD

Quartz microbalance with dissipation technique

MD

Molecular dynamics

NICISS

Neutral impact collision ion scattering spectroscopy

XPS

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS)

E 0

Standard electrode potential

R

Ideal gas constant

T

Absolute temperature

n

Number of electrons

F

Faraday constant

a i

Represents the activities

PEDOT

Poly(3,4-Ethylenedioxythiophene)

PPy

polypyrrole

PANI

Polyaniline

VB

Valence band

NHE

Normal Hydrogen Electrode

∆V

Theoretical maximum photovoltage

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Tian, H., Kloo, L. (2018). Liquid Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells. In: Tian, H., Boschloo, G., Hagfeldt, A. (eds) Molecular Devices for Solar Energy Conversion and Storage. Green Chemistry and Sustainable Technology. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-5924-7_3

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