Anchorage of N3 dye-linked polyacrylic acid to TiO2/electrolyte interface for improvement in the performance of a dye-sensitized solar cell

A synthetic route was developed to link N3 dye to polyacrylic acid (PAA) using ethylenediamine (en) as the linker. The resulting complex, PAA-en-N3, was then coated onto a TiO2 film. The modified TiO2 film electrode (hereafter PAA-en-N3/TiO2), when used as the photoanode in a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC), exhibited enhanced solar energy conversion efficiency compared with that of the usual DSSC with the N3/TiO2 film electrode. The increase in efficiency was attributed to the increased open-circuit voltage (Voc) and short-circuit photocurrent (Jsc). The increase in Voc was attributed to the formation of a hydrophobic PAA-en-N3 layer on the TiO2/electrolyte interface, while the increase in Jsc was attributed to the additional dye acquired by the TiO2 film from the PAA-en-N3 complex.