Effect of electron-withdrawing groups in conjugated bridges: molecular engineering of organic sensitizers for dye-sensitized solar cells

doi:10.1007/s12200-016-0567-6

Front. Optoelectron.

2016, Vol. 9

Issue (1) : 60-70 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12200-016-0567-6

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Effect of electron-withdrawing groups in conjugated bridges: molecular engineering of organic sensitizers for dye-sensitized solar cells

Jie SHI^1,²,Zhaofei CHAI¹,Runli TANG¹,Huiyang LI¹,Hongwei HAN³,Tianyou PENG¹,Qianqian LI^1,^*(

),Zhen LI^1,^*(

)

1. Department of Chemistry, Hubei Key Lab on Organic and Polymeric Opto-Electronic Materials, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
2. Hubei Key Laboratory of Oilcrops Lipid Chemistry and Nutrition, Oil Crops Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Wuhan 430062, China
3. Michael Gr?tzel Center for Mesoscopic Solar Cells, Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China

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Abstract

Four organic sensitizers containing quinoxaline or benzoxadiazole as an auxiliary electron acceptor in conjugated bridge were synthesized and utilized for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). It was found that the incorporation of different electron-withdrawing moieties can affect the absorption spectra, electronic properties, the interfacial interactions and then the overall conversion efficiencies significantly. Therefore, the appropriate selection of the auxiliary acceptor was important to optimize the photovoltaic performance of solar cells. Among these sensitizers, LI-44 based solar cell showed the best photovoltaic performance: a shortcircuit photocurrent density (J_sc) of 13.90 mA/cm², an open-circuit photovoltage (V_oc) of 0.66 V, and a fill factor (FF) of 0.66, corresponding to an overall conversion efficiency of 6.10% under standard global AM 1.5 solar light conditions.

Keywords dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) auxiliary electron acceptor quinoxaline benzoxadiazole

Corresponding Author(s): Qianqian LI,Zhen LI

Just Accepted Date: 11 January 2016 Online First Date: 18 February 2016 Issue Date: 18 March 2016

Cite this article:

Jie SHI,Zhaofei CHAI,Runli TANG, et al. Effect of electron-withdrawing groups in conjugated bridges: molecular engineering of organic sensitizers for dye-sensitized solar cells[J]. Front. Optoelectron., 2016, 9(1): 60-70.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/foe/EN/10.1007/s12200-016-0567-6
https://academic.hep.com.cn/foe/EN/Y2016/V9/I1/60

Fig.1 Chemical structures of the four organic sensitizers

Fig.2 Scheme 1 Synthetic routes of the four organic sensitizers

Fig.3 UV-vis spectra of the four organic sensitizers in CH₂Cl₂

Fig.4 UV-vis spectra of the four organic sensitizers on TiO₂ films

Tab.1 Absorbance and electrochemical properties of the sensitizers

Fig.5 Frontier orbitals of the sensitizers optimized at the B3LYP/6-31G* level

Fig.6 Spectra of monochrmatic IPCE for DSSCs based on these sensitizers

Fig.7 Current density-voltage characteristics obtained with a nanocrystalline TiO₂ film supported on FTO conducting glass and derivatized with monolayer of sensitizers

Fig.8 Dark-current density-potential curves of DSSCs based on these sensitizers

Tab.2 Performance data of DSSCs based on the four sensitizers ^a

Fig.9 EIS for DSSCs based on the sensitizers. (a) Nyquist plots in the dark; (b) Nyquist plots under illumination

Fig.10 Electron lifetime fitted from impedance spectra under a series of applied potentials

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