Enhanced Photovoltaic Performances of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells by Co-Sensitization of Benzothiadiazole and Squaraine-Based Dyes

Islam A 1 , Akhtaruzzaman M 2 , Chowdhury TH 2 , Qin C 1 , Han L 1 , Bedja IM 3 Show all authors , Stalder R 4 , Schanze KS 4 , Reynolds JR 4

Affiliations 

  • 1 Photovoltaic Materials Unit, National Institute for Materials Science , 1-2-1 Sengen, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0047, Japan
  • 2 Solar Energy Research Institute (SERI), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) , Bangi 43600, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
  • 3 CRC, Optometry Department, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Saud University , Riyadh 11433, Saudi Arabia
  • 4 Department of Chemistry, Center for Macromolecular Science and Engineering, University of Florida , Gainesville, Florida 32611, United States
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces, 2016 Feb;8(7):4616-23.
PMID: 26812212 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.5b11134

Abstract

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) based on a donor-acceptor-donor oligothienylene dye containing benzothiadiazole (T4BTD-A) were cosensitized with dyes containing cis-configured squaraine rings (HSQ3 and HSQ4). The cosensitized dyes showed incident monochromatic photon-to-current conversion efficiency (IPCE) greater than 70% in the 300-850 nm wavelength region. The individual overall conversion efficiencies of the sensitizers T4BTD-A, HSQ3, and HSQ4 were 6.4%, 4.8%, and 5.8%, respectively. Improved power conversion efficiencies of 7.0% and 7.7% were observed when T4BTD-A was cosensitized with HSQ3 and HSQ4, respectively, thanks to a significant increase in current density (JSC) for the cosensitized DSSCs. Intensity-modulated photovoltage spectroscopy results showed a longer lifetime for cosensitized T4BTD-A+HSQ3 and T4BTD-A+HSQ4 compared to that of HSQ3 and HSQ4, respectively.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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