Direct Dynamic Evidence of Charge Separation in a Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell Obtained under Operando Conditions by Raman Spectroscopy

Interfaces play an important role in enhancing the energy conversion performance of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs). The interface effects have been studied by many techniques, but most of the studies only focused on one part of a DSC, rather than on a complete solar cell. Hence, monitoring the interface evolution of a DSC is still very challenging. Here, in situ/operando resonance Raman (RR) spectroscopic analyses were carried out to monitor the dynamics of the photovoltaic conversion processes in a DSC. We observed the creation of new species (i.e., polyiodide and iodine aggregates) in the photosensitization process. We also obtained molecular-scale dynamic evidence that the bands from the C=C and C=N bonds of 2,2′-bipyridyl (bpy), the S=C=N bonds of the NCS ligand, and photochemical products undergo reasonably strong intensity and frequency changes, which clearly demonstrates that they are involved in charge separation. Furthermore, RR spectroscopy can also be used to quickly evaluate the performance of DSCs.     

Interface modification of 8-hydroxyquinoline aluminium with combined effects in quasi-solid dye-sensitized solar cells

In this paper, 8-hydroxyquinoline aluminium (Alq(3)) was used in interface modification of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs). Alq(3) was the first discovered interface modification material with combined effects of retarding charge recombination and F?rster resonant energy transfer (FRET). Results of dark current curve and AC impedance showed that Alq(3) could retard charge recombination in DSCs. I-V curves showed that conversion efficiency increased with Alq(3) modification. Besides the interface modification effect, it was discovered that Alq(3) also acted as energy relay dye with the FRET effect between itself and N3, which increased photoresponse and electron injection. The application of Alq(3) with combined effects opened a new door to explore more novel multi-functional interface modification materials to improve the performance of DSCs.     

Zinc Porphyrins with a Pyridine‐Ring‐Anchoring Group for Dye‐Sensitized Solar Cells

Anchoring groups are extremely important in controlling the performance of dye‐sensitized solar cells (DSCs). The design and characterization of sensitizers with new anchoring groups, in particular non‐carboxylic acid groups, has become a recent focus of DSC research. Herein, new donor? π? acceptor zinc? porphyrin dyes with a pyridine ring as an anchoring group have been designed and synthesized for applications in DSCs. Photophysical and electrochemical investigations demonstrated that the pyridine ring worked effectively as an anchoring group for the porphyrin sensitizers. DSCs that were based on these new porphyrins showed an overall power‐conversion efficiency of about 4.0 % under full sunlight (AM 1.5G, 100 mW cm^?2).     

Economical Pt-free catalysts for counter electrodes of dye-sensitized solar cells

Three classes (carbides, nitrides and oxides) of nanoscaled early-transition-metal catalysts have been proposed to replace the expensive Pt catalyst as counter electrodes (CEs) in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs). Of these catalysts, Cr(3)C(2), CrN, VC(N), VN, TiC, TiC(N), TiN, and V(2)O(3) all showed excellent catalytic activity for the reduction of I(3)(-) to I(-) in the electrolyte. Further, VC embedded in mesoporous carbon (VC-MC) was prepared through in situ synthesis. The I(3)(-)/I(-) DSC based on the VC-MC CE reached a high power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 7.63%, comparable to the photovoltaic performance of the DSC using a Pt CE (7.50%). In addition, the carbide catalysts demonstrated catalytic activity higher than that of Pt for the regeneration of a new organic redox couple of T(2)/T(-). The T(2)/T(-) DSCs using TiC and VC-MC CEs showed PCEs of 4.96 and 5.15%, much higher than that of the DSC using a Pt CE (3.66%). This work expands the list of potential CE catalysts, which can help reduce the cost of DSCs and thereby encourage their fundamental research and commercial application.     

电化学阻抗谱研究染料/Al2O3交替组装结构的光伏特性及作用机理

使用Al₂O₃和N3染料制备了一种交替组装的结构, 该结构能够提高染料敏化太阳能电池(DSCs)的开路电压(V_oc), 短路电流(J_sc)和转换效率(η). 为了研究(染料/Al₂O₃)交替组装结构的作用机理, 使用电化学阻抗谱技术分析了电池的界面电阻. 分析结果表明, 随着交替组装结构中(染料/Al₂O₃)单元的增加, 光阳极/染料/电解质界面的电阻降低, 电池性能随之提高. 基于电化学阻抗谱分析结果, 建立了一系列的等效电路模型, 从理论上解释了(染料/Al₂O₃)交替组装结构的作用机理.     

Recent progress in interface modification for dye-sensitized solar cells

Interface modification on the TiO₂/dye/electrolyte interface of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) is one of the most effective approaches to suppress the charge recombination, improve electron injection and transportation, and thus ameliorate the conversion efficiency and stability of DSCs. Conventional research focusing on the photoanodes interface modification before sensitization in dye-sensitized solar cells has been carried out and reviewed. However, recent studies showed that post-modification after sensitization of the TiO₂ electrode also plays a significant role on the TiO₂/dye/electrolyte interface. This post-modification using the immersing method could deprotonate dye molecules, prohibit the dye aggregation and retard the recombination reaction. As a result, it has great influence on the devices’ photovoltaic performance. This interface modification could also provide an approach to broaden the response of the solar spectrum by introducing an alternative assembling structure. An in-situ meaning of using a co-adsorbent is employed to modify the interface in the DSCs, which could retard the aggregation of the dye molecules and enhance the conversion efficiency. In addition, electrolyte additives can be used to modify the TiO₂/dye/electrolyte interface through some unique mechanisms. Based on the background of interface modification of photoanodes before sensitization, this review introduces various interface modifications after sensitization of dye-sensitized solar cells and their mechanisms.     

Wearable Solar Cells by Stacking Textile Electrodes

A new and general method to produce flexible, wearable dye‐sensitized solar cell (DSC) textiles by the stacking of two textile electrodes has been developed. A metal–textile electrode that was made from micrometer‐sized metal wires was used as a working electrode, while the textile counter electrode was woven from highly aligned carbon nanotube fibers with high mechanical strengths and electrical conductivities. The resulting DSC textile exhibited a high energy conversion efficiency that was well maintained under bending. Compared with the woven DSC textiles that are based on wire‐shaped devices, this stacked DSC textile unexpectedly exhibited a unique deformation from a rectangle to a parallelogram, which is highly desired in portable electronics. This lightweight and wearable stacked DSC textile is superior to conventional planar DSCs because the energy conversion efficiency of the stacked DSC textile was independent of the angle of incident light.     

Material and Interface Engineering for High‐Performance Perovskite Solar Cells: A Personal Journey and Perspective

Hybrid organic‐inorganic perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have become a shining star in the photovoltaic field due to their spectacular increase in power conversion efficiency (PCE) from 3.8 % to over 23 % in just few years, opening up the potential in addressing the important future energy and environment issues. The excellent photovoltaic performance can be attributed to the unique properties of the organometal halide perovskite materials, including high absorption coefficient, tunable bandgap, high defect tolerance, and excellent charge transport characteristics. The authors entered this field when pursuing research on dye‐sensitized solar cells (DSCs) by leveraging nanorods arrays for vectorial transport of the extracted electrons. Soon after, we and others realized that while the organometal halide perovskite materials have excellent intrinsic properties for solar cells, interface engineering is at least equally important in the development of high‐performance PSCs, which includes surface defect passivation, band alignment, and heterojunction formation. Herein, we will address this topic by presenting the historical development and recent progress on the interface engineering of PSCs primarily of our own group. This review is mainly focused on the material and interface design of the conventional n‐i‐p, inverted p‐i‐n and carbon electrode‐based structure devices from our own experience and perspective. Finally, the challenges and prospects of this area for future development will also be discussed.     

高相转变温度的离子凝胶电解质基准固态染料敏化太阳电池

染料敏化太阳电池(DSC)以其低价、高效等优势, 成为学术界和工业界的研究热点. 传统液态电解质由于易挥发、易泄漏等问题, 导致基于液态电解质的电池难以保持长期稳定, 影响光伏技术的应用. 本文合成了N,N'-1,5-戊二基双月桂酰胺, 将其作为有机小分子胶凝剂(LMOG)胶凝离子液体电解质(ILE)制备了离子凝胶电解质(IGE)并组装成准固态电池(QS-DSCs). 差示扫描量热测试显示该凝胶电解质的相转变温度(T_gel)为104.7℃, 具有良好的本征热稳定性.利用循环伏安法、电化学阻抗谱、调制光电压/光电流谱分别研究了液态电池和准固态电池内部电子传输和复合动力学过程. 结果表明, 凝胶电解质的三维网络结构加速了TiO₂光阳极/电解质界面电子与电解质中I₃^-的复合过程, 使电子寿命降低, 导致准固态电池的光电转换效率略低于液态电池. 在AM1.5 (100 mW·cm^-2)及50℃条件下的加速老化测试结果显示, 持续老化1000 h后其光电转换效率(η)无衰减,而液态电池的光电转换效率衰减为初始值的86%, 表明准固态电池具有良好的光热稳定性.     

Fabrication of double-walled carbon nanotube counter electrodes for dye-sensitized solar sells

Double-walled carbon nanotubes (DWCNTs) have been studied for counter-electrode application in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs). Mesoporous TiO2 films are prepared from the commercial TiO2 nanopowders by screen-printing technique on optically transparent-conducting glasses. A metal-free organic dye (indoline dye D102) is used as a sensitizer. DWCNTs are applied to substitute for platinum as counter-electrode materials. Morphological and electrochemical properties of the formed counter electrodes are investigated by scanning electronic microscopy and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, respectively. The electronic and ionic processes in platinum and DWCNT-based DSCs are analyzed and discussed. The catalytic activity and DSC performance of DWCNTs and Pt are compared. A conversion efficiency of 6.07% has been obtained for DWCNT counter-electrode DSCs. This efficiency is comparable to that of platinum counter-electrode-based devices.     

Asymmetric ZnO Panel‐Like Hierarchical Architectures with Highly Interconnected Pathways for Free‐Electron Transport and Photovoltaic Improvements

Through a rapid and template‐free precipitation approach, we synthesized an asymmetric panel‐like ZnO hierarchical architecture (PHA) for photoanodes of dye‐sensitized solar cells (DSCs). The two sides of the PHA are constructed differently using densely interconnected, mono‐crystalline and ultrathin ZnO nanosheets. By mixing these PHAs with ZnO nanoparticles (NPs), we developed an effective and feasible strategy to improve the electrical transport and photovoltaic performance of the composite photoanodes of DSCs. The highly crystallized and interconnected ZnO nanosheets largely minimized the total grain boundaries within the composite photoanodes and thus served as direct pathways for the transport and effective collection of free electrons. Through low‐temperature (200 °C) annealing, these novel composite photoanodes achieved high conversion efficiencies of up to 5.59 % for ZnO‐based quasi‐solid DSCs.     

Electron-rich heteroaromatic conjugated polypyridine ruthenium sensitizers for dye-sensitized solar cells

Ru(II) heteroleptic complexes as photosensitizers for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) are presented. The article outlines design strategies, synthetic routes, optical and photovoltaic properties of ruthenium dyes based on polypyridines as ancillary ligands containing π-conjugated electron-rich heteroaromatic groups. The integration of donor heteroaromatic substituents, typically thiophene-based moieties, strongly improves the optical properties of the sensitizers in terms of bathochromic and hyperchromic shift compared to prototypical dyes N3 and N719. These favorable properties in turn yield DSCs with superior light harvesting abilities, higher external quantum efficiencies, improved device photocurrents, and top-ranked power conversion efficiencies. In combination with excellent stabilities under thermal stress and light soaking, this class of DSC photosensitizer has great potential for practical applications.     

大面积全柔性染料敏化太阳能电池光电性能优化

设计并制作了大面积高效全柔性染料敏化太阳能电池（DSCs）.通过引入光散射层或施加机械压力,DSCs的光电转化效率有了大幅度提高.实验室小面积（0.4 cm×0.4 cm）柔性DSCs的光电转化效率达到5.50%.大面积（2 cm×3 cm,活性面积为2.7 cm²）DSCs的光电转化效率从未进行处理的1.52%上升到1.81%和2.50%,分别提高了20.0%和66.7%.5 cm×7 cm面积的DSCs（活性面积为16.2 cm²）的光是转化效率在未做任何优化处理的条件下达到了1.60%(光强40 mW·cm^-2).同时,本文对提高光电转化效率的机理进行了深入研究.电化学阻抗测试结果表明,加压法能明显减小电池的内部串联电阻（R_s）及TiO₂/染料/电解液界面间的传荷电阻(R_ct).扫描电镜结果也显示加压后TiO₂粒子之间粘结更加紧密,更利于电子在TiO₂薄膜中的传输及染料的吸附.另外,900 h的长期稳定性实验结果表明,制作的柔性DSCs的各项光电性能参数均无明显下降.该实验结果为柔性染料敏化太阳能电池的基础研究和大面积产业化技术研究奠定了基础.     

Effect of the thickness of the Pt film coated on a counter electrode on the performance of a dye-sensitized solar cell

The effects of the thickness and morphology of a Pt film coated on a counter electrode on the performance of a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC) were investigated. Deposition of a Pt film ranging in thickness from 2 to 415 nm gradually decreases the sheet resistance of the counter electrode. No significant difference in the charge-transfer resistance at the electrolyte|counter electrode interface was observed for a Pt film thickness ranging from 25 to 415 nm. A high energy conversion efficiency of approximately 5% can be obtained for DSCs based on a counter electrode with a very thin Pt film of 2 nm, as well as with a 415-nm thick Pt film. These results are important for reducing production costs by reducing the required amount of expensive platinum.     

Novel counter electrode catalysts of niobium oxides supersede Pt for dye-sensitized solar cells

Synthesized niobium oxides (Nb(2)O(5) and NbO(2)) were applied for the first time as counter electrodes (CEs) in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs). The DSC using NbO(2) CE showed a higher power conversion efficiency of 7.88%, compared with that of the DSC using Pt CE (7.65%).     

ZnO hierarchical structures for efficient quasi-solid dye-sensitized solar cells

We report a direct precipitation method for mass production of ZnO microflowers (MFs) containing hierarchical structures. The ZnO MFs are constructed by interlaced single crystalline and porous nanosheets which are ideal photoanode material for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) because the MFs can largely improve the energy harvesting performance and the efficiency of DSCs. Compared with other forms of nano-sized structures, the novel hierarchical structures show obvious advantages in DSC application because of their large surface area for dye-loading, good light scattering efficiency and excellent electrical transport property. The quasi-solid state DSCs fabricated with the MF hierarchical structures exhibited an efficiency of 4.12%, much higher than that of ZnO nanoparticle-based DSCs, indicating a great potential for the development of highly-efficient quasi-solid DSCs.     

电化学阻抗谱研究染料/Al2O3交替组装结构的光伏特性及作用机理

使用Al₂O₃和N3染料制备了一种交替组装的结构, 该结构能够提高染料敏化太阳能电池(DSCs)的开路电压(V_oc), 短路电流(J_sc)和转换效率(η). 为了研究(染料/Al₂O₃)交替组装结构的作用机理, 使用电化学阻抗谱技术分析了电池的界面电阻. 分析结果表明, 随着交替组装结构中(染料/Al₂O₃)单元的增加, 光阳极/染料/电解质界面的电阻降低, 电池性能随之提高. 基于电化学阻抗谱分析结果, 建立了一系列的等效电路模型, 从理论上解释了(染料/Al₂O₃)交替组装结构的作用机理.     

TiO2薄膜优化对染料敏化太阳电池性能的影响

纳米TiO2多孔薄膜微结构对染料敏化太阳电池(DSC)光伏性能有很大的影响。本文采用不同实验和测试方法研究和分析了溶胶-凝胶法制备纳米TiO2颗粒时的热处理温度、TiO2多孔薄膜厚度、纳米TiO2大颗粒光散射、TiCl4溶液处理和电沉积致密TiO2层对纳米多孔薄膜电极和染料敏化太阳电池光伏性能的影响,得到了最佳的优化条件,为纳米TiO2薄膜材料的批量化制作打下了良好基础。     

N3/Al2O3/N749交替组装结构拓宽准固态染料敏化太阳能电池光响应范围和界面修饰效果

研究了染料敏化太阳能电池(DSCs)中N3/Al₂O₃/N749交替组装结构的作用. 该结构使用Al₂O₃作为介质层吸附第二层染料, 可以有效拓宽DSCs的光响应范围, 提高电池的光电转化效率. UV-Vis 吸收光谱和单色光转换效率(IPCE)谱测试结果表明, 相对于单一染料, 使用交替组装结构的电池光响应范围变宽. 电流-电压(I-V)曲线结果表明, 该结构有效增加了DSCs 电池的光电转化效率, 从单一N3 和N749 染料的4.22%和3.09%增加到了5.75%, 分别增加了36%和86%. 为了研究该结构的作用机理, 本文对其界面修饰作用及界面电子过程进行了讨论. 暗电流测试结果表明交替组装结构可以有效阻止电荷复合过程; 电化学阻抗谱(EIS)结果表明在黑暗条件下, N3/Al₂O₃/N749结构可以提高界面电阻, 从而抑制电荷复合过程; 本文建立了等效电路模型, 并使用该模型讨论了交替组装结构的界面电子过程; 调制强度光电流谱(IMPS)和调制强度光电压谱(IMVS)的结果表明该结构可以提高电子寿命和改善电子扩散.     

含双吸电子基团的三苯胺染料在太阳电池中的应用

合成了两种具有不同共轭链长度的双吸电子基团的三苯胺类染料TPAR3和TPAR6, 研究了它们的光物理与光电化学性质, 并将它们用作TiO2纳米晶电极的光敏化剂引入太阳电池. 结果表明, 与含有乙烯基共轭桥的染料TPAR3相比, 含有丁二烯基共轭桥的染料TPAR6在甲醇溶液和TiO2膜上的最大吸收均发生一定程度的红移和宽化; 但TPAR6表现出比TPAR3差的光电性能, 主要是因为前者更易发生顺反异构化, 电子不能够顺利地从染料激发态注入到TiO2导带中, 光电流的产生得到抑制. 考察了基于TPAR3的太阳电池在电解液中加入不同浓度的硫氰酸胍(GT)对光电性能的影响, 发现在GT浓度为0.100 mol·L-1时效率达到最大(4.02%).