The use of 2,6-bis (N-pyrazolyl) pyridine as an efficient dopant in conjugation with poly(ethylene oxide) for nanocrystalline dye-sensitized solar cells

Poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO)/2,6-bis (N-pyrazolyl) pyridine (BNPP) polymer electrolyte based photoelectrochemical cells have been fabricated with [cis-dithiocyanato-N, N-bis (2,2′ bipyridyl-4, 4′ dicarboxylic acid)ruthenium(II)] dihydrate (N3 dye) dye complex as the sensitizer and nanoporous TiO2 film as photo anode. The introduction of 2,6-bis (N-pyrazolyl) pyridine into the poly (ethylene oxide) matrix reduces the crystallinity of the polymer and enhances the mobility of I−/I3− redox couple resulting in an improved performance with a higher conversion efficiency of 8.8% in terms of light energy to electric energy when compared to that of the corresponding dye-sensitized nanocrystalline TiO2 solar cell.