Enhanced photocurrent generations in RuL2(NCS)2/di-(3-aminopropyl)-viologen self-assembled on In2O3 nanorods

A Ru(2,2′-bipyridine-4,4′-dicarboxylic acid)2(NCS)2 [RuL2(NCS)2]/di-(3-aminopropyl)-viologen (DAPV)/In2O3 nanorod system was prepared and applied for photocurrent generation with its maximum surface area . The In2O3 nanorods were prepared using the chemical-bath-deposition method. The various surface morphology of In2O3 were obtained by adding different amounts of 0.1 M HCl solution to the indium-containing solution. The DAPV and RuL2(NCS)2 were easily self-assembled on the indium-oxide surface. The energy levels of RuL2(NCS)2, DAPV, In2O3, and tin-doped indium oxide (ITO) were well arranged, and the system forms an efficient acceptor-sensitizer. The photocurrent measurement of the systems showed excellent photocurrent of 50 nA/cm2 under the air mass (AM) 1.5 condition (100 mW/cm2), which was increased by a factor of ten compared to ones without indium-oxide layers.