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A Novel Efficient, Iodide-Free Redox Mediator for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

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Abstract

A stable organic molecular radical, 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-1-piperidinyloxy (TEMPO), has been electrochemically studied and employed as a new redox mediator in nanocrystalline TiO2 dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) when it is doped with nitrosonium tetrafluoroborate (NOBF4). Reasonable photocurrents can be achieved despite of driving force of only 0.2 eV for the TEMPO/TEMPO+ system as compared to 0.6 eV for the iodide/triiodide redox system. Judicious selections of a 5 µm photoanode made from TiO2 mesoscopic particles (60 nm in diameter) and an organic sensitizer with high molar extinction coefficient yield an overall power conversion of 5.0 % under AM 1.5 illumination at 100 mW cm-2 and an incident photon-to-current conversion efficiencies (IPCE) in excess of 50 %.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Chemical Sciences and Engineering, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, Station 6, LPI-ISIC-EPFL, Lausanne, CH-1015, Switzerland

    Zhipan Zhang, Peter Chaoyu Chen, Shaik Mohammed Zakeeruddin, Jacques-Edouard Moser & Michael Grätzel

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  1. Zhipan Zhang
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  2. Peter Chaoyu Chen
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  3. Shaik Mohammed Zakeeruddin
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  4. Jacques-Edouard Moser
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  5. Michael Grätzel
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Zhang, Z., Chen, P.C., Zakeeruddin, S.M. et al. A Novel Efficient, Iodide-Free Redox Mediator for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells. MRS Online Proceedings Library 1013, 602 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1557/PROC-1013-Z06-02

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1557/PROC-1013-Z06-02

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