A swift dye uptake procedure for dye sensitized solar cells

Abstract

Solar cells based on swift self-assembled sensitizer bis(tetrabutylammonium)-cis-di(thiocyanato)-N,N′-bis(4-carboxylato-4′-carboxylic acid-2,2′-bipyridine)ruthenium(II) (N719) on double layers of 12 + 4 µm thick nanocrystalline TiO₂ films exhibit the incident monochromatic photon-to-current conversion efficiency (IPCE) 90% and show a short circuit current density of 17 mA cm⁻², 750 mV open circuit potential and 0.72 fill factor yielding power conversion efficiencies over 9.18% under AM 1.5 sun. For the first time highest power conversion efficiencies are obtained for dye sensitized solar cells using a swift self-assembled procedure.