Carbazole dye with phosphonic acid anchoring groups for long-term heat stability of dye-sensitized solar cells

In dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), the binding strength between the dye and TiO2 surface may affect the heat stability of the DSSCs. Carboxylic acids have generally been used as the anchoring groups for the adsorption of dyes on TiO2 surfaces. However, a phosphonic acid anchor is expected to effect more stable bonding to a TiO2 surface because of its tridentate binding capability. In this study, we developed a new carbazole dye that employed a phosphonic acid anchor, MK-94. We studied the effect of the dye anchoring group on the heat stability of DSSCs by comparing MK-94, MK-2 (a carbazole dye with a carboxylic acid anchoring group), and Z-907 (a well-known, robust Ru complex dye with a carboxylic acid anchoring group).In the initial performance assessment, the DSSC with MK-94 exhibited a lower short circuit current (jsc) but a higher open circuit voltage (ΔVoc) than MK-2. With respect to heat stability, decreases in jsc and ΔVoc were suppressed with MK-94, and the drop of the power conversion efficiency (PCE) was kept within 6% after 504 h of heating. In addition, MK-94 demonstrated the longest electron lifetime and largest charge transfer resistance than the other dyes during the stability test. In contrast, the PCE decreased 27% from the initial value in the DSSC with MK-2. Thus, the phosphonic acid anchor was effective in extending the long-term heat stability of the DSSCs.