Issue 35, 2015

Role of temperature in the recombination reaction on dye-sensitized solar cells

Abstract

The performance of photovoltaic (PV) devices as a function of temperature is crucial for technical development and for accurate commercial information. Along with solar irradiance, temperature is the most important operating factor of the PV device performance. Normally, it is widely accepted that dye sensitized solar cells (DSC) show minimal energy efficiency dependence with temperature (20–60 °C). The energy efficiency in DSCs depends on the light absorption, charge transport (ohmic resistances) and recombination rates. In this study, the recombination reaction kinetics was studied within a wide temperature range. A unique laser assisted sealing technique that allows studying the temperature effect between −5 °C and 105 °C without electrolyte leakage or external contamination was used. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest operating temperature ever considered in kinetic studies of liquid state DSCs. The electrochemical reaction between electrons and triiodide/iodide ions was shown to be the most important factor for determining the energy efficiency of DSCs as a function of temperature. It was concluded that the activation energy of the recombination reactions depends on the interface where it happens – TiO2/electrolyte and SnO2–F/electrolyte – and on the temperature. It was found that in addition to temperature having a deep influence on the recombination reaction rate, the energy of the injecting electron is also critical. These conclusions should provide solid ground for further developments in the DSCs and perovskite solar cells, and allow a better comparison of the energy efficiency of different PV technologies over a range of operating temperatures.

Graphical abstract: Role of temperature in the recombination reaction on dye-sensitized solar cells

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
21 May 2015
Accepted
22 Jul 2015
First published
28 Jul 2015
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2015,17, 22699-22710

Author version available

Role of temperature in the recombination reaction on dye-sensitized solar cells

J. Maçaira, I. Mesquita, L. Andrade and A. Mendes, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2015, 17, 22699 DOI: 10.1039/C5CP02942B

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications, without requesting further permission from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given and it is not used for commercial purposes.

To request permission to reproduce material from this article in a commercial publication, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party commercial publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements