Effects of tethering alkyl chains for amphiphilic ruthenium complex dyes on their adsorption to titanium oxide and photovoltaic properties

Ruthenium (II) complex dye, Ru(4,4′-dicarboxyl-2,2′-bipyridine)(4-nonyl-2,2′-bipyridine) (NCS)2, (denoted as RuC9) tethering single alkyl chain was synthesized and well characterized. Its adsorption behavior onto the mesoporous TiO2 and photovoltaic properties were compared with Z907 which has similar chemical structure but tethers two alkyl chains. RuC9 dyes tend to aggregate into vesicles in the acetonitrile/t-butanol co-solvent as a result of the amphiphilic structure, whereas Z907 dyes aggregate into lamellae. The dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) with RuC9 dye showed higher short-circuit photocurrent than that with Z907, attributing to its higher molar optical extinction coefficient and more adsorption amount onto the mesoporous TiO2. However, the DSSC with Z907 dye has higher open-circuit photovoltage and power conversion efficiency, presumably due to the fact that Z907 with more alkyl chains formed a molecular layer with higher hydrophobicity. It reduced the charge recombination in the interface between the dye-sensitized mesoporous TiO2 and electrolyte as verified by the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and intensity modulated photocurrent and photovoltage spectroscopies.

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► Z907 dye tethering two alkyl chains tends to aggregate into lamellae in solvent.
► RuC9 dye with single alkyl chain tends to aggregate into vesicles in solvent.
► RuC9 shows higher short circuit photocurrent density than Z907.