کد مقاله کد نشریه سال انتشار مقاله انگلیسی نسخه تمام متن
219460 463275 2012 10 صفحه PDF دانلود رایگان
عنوان انگلیسی مقاله ISI
Effect of molecular filtering and electrolyte composition on the spatial variation in performance of dye solar cells
موضوعات مرتبط
مهندسی و علوم پایه مهندسی شیمی مهندسی شیمی (عمومی)
پیش نمایش صفحه اول مقاله
Effect of molecular filtering and electrolyte composition on the spatial variation in performance of dye solar cells
چکیده انگلیسی

It is demonstrated that the molecular filtering effect of TiO2 has a significant influence on dye solar cell (DSC) performance. As electrolyte is injected to a DSC, some of the electrolyte components adsorb to the surface TiO2 (here 4-tert-butylpyridine and 1-methyl-benzimidazole) and accumulate near the electrolyte filling hole resulting in varying electrolyte composition and performance across the cell. The spatial performance distribution was investigated with a new method, the segment cell method. Not only is the segmented cell method simple and cheap when compared to the only other method for examining spatial variation (photocurrent mapping), it also has the major advantage of allowing the spatial variation in all other operating parameters to be assessed. Here the molecular filtering effect was to influence the cell performance in case of all the five studied electrolytes causing up to 35% losses in efficiency. Raman spectra indicated that the loss in photocurrent in the electrolyte filling was in correlation with the loss of thiocyanate ligands suggesting that dye regeneration may also be a significant factor in addition to electron injection in some of the cells. There were also shifts in the absorption spectra the photoelectrodes which further supported changes in the thiocyanate ligands. Besides absorption changes, there were additional shifts in the IPCE spectra which may relate to deprotonation of the dye. The efficiency losses were reduced to ∼10% with contemporary electrolyte compositions.


► Up to 35 % losses are seen in the up-scaling of dye solar cells due to spatial performance variations.
► Due to molecular filtering effect of TiO2 the electrolyte components distribute unevenly in the electrolyte filling.
► The performance of up-scaled dye solar cells can be improved with careful selection of electrolyte additives.
► A very useful new method, segmented cells, is introduced for investigating the spatial distribution of device performance.

ناشر
Database: Elsevier - ScienceDirect (ساینس دایرکت)
Journal: Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry - Volume 664, 1 January 2012, Pages 63–72
نویسندگان
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