Studies of an Extremely High Molar Extinction Coefficient Ruthenium Sensitizer in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

Abstract

An extremely high molar extinction coefficient heteroleptic polypyridyl ruthenium sensitizer, featuring a conjugated electron-rich furan unit in its ancillary ligand, has been synthesized and demonstrated as an efficient sensitizer in dye solar cells. With a preliminary testing, we have reached 8.8% overall power conversion efficiency measured in the air mass 1.5 global conditions. Transient photoelectrical decays and electrical impedance spectra were analyzed to picture the intrinsic physics of temperature-dependent photovoltage and photocurrent. A higher temperature will result in more electronic states in deep level and a faster charge recombination at the titania/dye/electrolyte interface at a given Voc.