The concept of dye-sensitized mesoporous solid-state heterojunction solar cells

U. Bach, J. Krüger, M. Grätzel

Research output: Contribution to journalConference articleOther

5 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Solar cells based on dye-sensitized mesoporous films of TiO2 are low cost alternatives to inorganic semiconductor devices. Solar energy conversion efficiencies of up to 10% have been achieved with such films when used in conjunction with liquid electrolytes. Practical advantage may be gained by the replacement of the liquid electrolyte with a solid charge transport material and various concepts have been proposed in literature to realize such solid-state dye-sensitized heterojunctions. Recently high incident photon to electric current conversion efficiencies have been achieved with a cell consisting of a dye-derivatized mesoporous TiO2 film contacted by a new organic hole conductor. Photoinduced charge carrier generation shows to be very efficient in such devices, while interfacial charge recombination during charge collection can be revealed as the major loss mechanism. Surface treatments with pyridine derivatives proved to significantly improve the energy conversion efficiency of the device.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1-7
Number of pages7
JournalProceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering
Volume4108
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2001
Externally publishedYes
EventOrganic Photovoltaics - San Diego, CA, United States of America
Duration: 3 Aug 2000 → …

Keywords

  • Dye-sensitized
  • Merocyanine
  • Nanocrystalline
  • Organic
  • Solar cell
  • Solid-state

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