Influence of electrolyte co-additives on the performance of dye-sensitized solar cells
<p>Abstract</p> <p>The presence of specific chemical additives in the redox electrolyte results in an efficient increase of the photovoltaic performance of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs). The most effective additives are 4-<it>tert</it>-butylpyridine (TBP), <it>...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
SpringerOpen
2011-01-01
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| Series: | Nanoscale Research Letters |
| Online Access: | http://www.nanoscalereslett.com/content/6/1/307 |
| Summary: | <p>Abstract</p> <p>The presence of specific chemical additives in the redox electrolyte results in an efficient increase of the photovoltaic performance of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs). The most effective additives are 4-<it>tert</it>-butylpyridine (TBP), <it>N</it>-methylbenzimidazole (NMBI) and guanidinium thiocyanate (GuNCS) that are adsorbed onto the photoelectrode/electrolyte interface, thus shifting the semiconductor's conduction band edge and preventing recombination with triiodides. In a comparative work, we investigated in detail the action of TBP and NMBI additives in ionic liquid-based redox electrolytes with varying iodine concentrations, in order to extract the optimum additive/I<sub>2 </sub>ratio for each system. Different optimum additive/I<sub>2 </sub>ratios were determined for TBP and NMBI, despite the fact that both generally work in a similar way. Further addition of GuNCS in the optimized electrolytic media causes significant synergistic effects, the action of GuNCS being strongly influenced by the nature of the corresponding co-additive. Under the best operation conditions, power conversion efficiencies as high as 8% were obtained.</p> |
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| ISSN: | 1931-7573 1556-276X |