| 1. |
- Benesperi, Iacopo, et al.
(författare)
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The researcher's guide to solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells
- 2018
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Ingår i: Journal of Materials Chemistry C. - : Royal Society of Chemistry. - 2050-7526 .- 2050-7534. ; 6:44, s. 11903-11942
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- In order to sustainably support its ever-increasing energy demand, the human society will have to harvest renewable energy wherever and whenever possible. When converting light to electricity, silicon solar cells are the technology of choice to harvest direct sunlight due to their high performance and continuously dropping price. For diffused light and indoor applications, however, silicon is not the material of choice. To power the next gizmo in your smart home, dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) are a viable alternative. Made from inexpensive, earth-abundant, and non-toxic materials, DSCs perform best at low light intensity. So far, issues such as leakage of the liquid electrolyte and its corrosive nature have limited the commercialization of this technology. To overcome these limitations, solid-state DSCs (ssDSCs) - in which the liquid electrolyte is replaced by a solid material - have been developed. For many years their efficiencies have been poor, preventing them from being widely employed. In the past six years, however, research efforts have led them to rival with their liquid counterparts. Here, we will review recent advancements in the field of ssDSCs. Every device component will be acknowledged, from metal oxides and new dyes to novel hole transporters, dopants, counter-electrodes and device architectures. After reviewing materials, long-term stability of devices will be addressed, finally giving an insight into the future that awaits this exciting technology.
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| 2. |
- Michaels, Hannes, et al.
(författare)
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Copper Complexes with Tetradentate Ligands for Enhanced Charge Transport in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells
- 2018
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Ingår i: Inorganics. - : MDPI AG. - 2304-6740. ; 6:2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs), the redox mediator is responsible for the regeneration of the oxidized dye and for the hole transport towards the cathode. Here, we introduce new copper complexes with tetradentate 6,6-bis(4-(S)-isopropyl-2-oxazolinyl)-2,2-bipyridine ligands, Cu(oxabpy), as redox mediators. Copper coordination complexes with a square-planar geometry show low reorganization energies and thus introduce smaller losses in photovoltage. Slow recombination kinetics of excited electrons between the TiO2 and Cu-II(oxabpy) species lead to an exceptionally long electron lifetime, a high Fermi level in the TiO2, and a high photovoltage of 920 mV with photocurrents of 10 mA.cm(-2) and 6.2% power conversion efficiency. Meanwhile, a large driving force remains for the dye regeneration of the Y123 dye with high efficiencies. The square-planar Cu(oxabpy) complexes yield viscous gel-like solutions. The unique charge transport characteristics are attributed to a superposition of diffusion and electronic conduction. An enhancement in charge transport performance of 70% despite the higher viscosity is observed upon comparison of Cu(oxabpy) to the previously reported Cu(tmby)(2) redox electrolyte.
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| 3. |
- Saygili, Yasemin, et al.
(författare)
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Effect of Coordination Sphere Geometry of Copper Redox Mediators on Regeneration and Recombination Behavior in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell Applications
- 2018
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Ingår i: ACS Applied Energy Materials. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 2574-0962. ; 1:9, s. 4950-4962
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The recombination of injected electrons with oxidized redox species and regeneration behavior of copper redox mediators are investigated for four copper complexes, [Cu(dmby)(2)](2+/1+) (dmby = 6,6'-dimethyl-2,2'-bipyridine), [Cu(tmby)(2)](2+/1+) (tmby = 4,4',6,6'- tetramethyl-2,2'-bipyridine), [Cu(eto)(2)](2+/1+) (eto = 4-ethoxy-6,6'-dimethyl-2,2'-bipyridine), and [Cu(dmp)(2)](2+/1+) (dmp = bis(2,9-dimethyl-1,10-phenantroline). These complexes were examined in conjunction with the D5, D35, and D45 sensitizers, having various degrees of blocking moieties. The experimental results were further supported by density functional theory calculations, showing that the low reorganization energies, lambda, of tetra-coordinated Cu(I) species (lambda = 0.31-0.34 eV) allow efficient regeneration of the oxidized dye at driving forces down to approximately 0.1 eV. The regeneration electron transfer reaction is in the Marcus normal regime. However, for Cu(II) species, the presence of 4-tertbutylpyridine (TBP) in electrolyte medium results in penta-coordinated complexes with altered charge recombination kinetics (lambda = 1.23-1.40 eV). These higher reorganization energies lead to charge recombination in the Marcus normal regime instead of the Marcus inverted regime that could have been expected from the large driving force for electrons in the conduction band of TiO2 to react with Cu(II). Nevertheless, the recombination resistance and electron lifetime values were higher for the copper redox species compared to the reference cobalt redox mediator. The DSC devices employing D35 dye with [Cu(dmp)(2)](2+/1+) reached a record value for the open circuit voltage of 1.14 V without compromising the short circuit current density value. Even with the D5 dye, which lacks recombination preventing steric units, we reached 7.5% efficiency by employing [Cu(dmp)(2)](2+/1+) and [Cu(dmby)(2)](2+/1+) at AM 1.5G full sun illumination with open circuit voltage values as high as 1.13 V.
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