FRET-designed dye-sensitized solar cells to enhance light harvesting

Förster resonance energy transfer between the xanthene dye (donor of energy) and a new polymethine dye (acceptor of energy) was studied on the surface of TiO2 films in dye-sensitized solar cells. It was shown that the sensitization of semiconductor films by the donor–acceptor compound leads to a doubling of energy conversion efficiency in comparison to the cell due to only the polymethine dye. Measurements show that this is due to the widening of photosensitivity of the cell in the blue region of the spectrum. Increasing the total energy absorbed leads to increasing the number of generated charge carriers at the interface of TiO2 and the dyes.