Second Generation of DiketopyrrolopyrroleDyes for NiO based Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

• In this study, four new diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP) sensitizers, with a dicarboxylated triphenylamine anchoring group for attachment to NiO, were prepared and their electronic absorption, emission and electrochemical properties were recorded. The nature of the electronic excited-states was also modeled with TD-DFT quantum chemistry calculations. The photovoltaic performances of these new dyes were characterized in NiO-based dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) with the classical iodide/triiodide and cobaltII/III-polypyridine electrolytes, in which they proved to be quite active. Laser spectroscopy on dye/NiO/electrolyte films gave evidence for ultrafast hole injection into NiO (0.2-10 ps time scales). For the dyes with an appended naphtalenediimide (NDI) acceptor unit, ultrafast electron transfer to the NDI dramatically prolonged the lifetime of the charge separated state NiO(+)/dye-, from the ps time scale to an average lifetime ≈ 0.25 ms, which is among the slowest charge recombinations ever reported for dye/NiO systems. This allowed for efficient regeneration by CoIIIpolypyridine electrolytes, which translated into much improved PV-performance compared to the DPP dyes without appended NDI. Overall, these results underscore the suitability of DPP as sensitizers for NiO-based photoelectrochemical devices for photovoltaic and photocatalysis.

Ämnesord

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Kemi -- Fysikalisk kemi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Chemical Sciences -- Physical Chemistry (hsv//eng)

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