Re-evaluation of Recombination Losses in Dye-Sensitized Cells: The Failure of Dynamic Relaxation Methods to Correctly Predict Diffusion Length in Nanoporous Photoelectrodes

Abstract

Photocurrents generated by thick, strongly absorbing, dye-sensitized cells were reduced when the electrolyte iodine concentration was increased. Electron diffusion lengths measured using common transient techniques (L(n)) were at least two times higher than diffusion lengths measured at steady state (L(IPCE)). Charge collection efficiency calculated using L(n) seriously overpredicted photocurrent, while L(IPCE) correctly predicted photocurrent. This has implications for optimizing cell design.