Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, CH 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Nat Chem. 2010 May;2(5):385-9. doi: 10.1038/nchem.610. Epub 2010 Apr 4.
Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) have achieved impressive conversion efficiencies for solar energy of over 11% with an electrolyte that contains triiodide/iodide as a redox couple. Although triiodide/iodide redox couples work efficiently in DSCs, they suffer from two major disadvantages: electrolytes that contain triiodide/iodide corrode electrical contacts made of silver (which reduces the options for the scale up of DSCs to module size) and triiodide partially absorbs visible light. Here, we present a new disulfide/thiolate redox couple that has negligible absorption in the visible spectral range, a very attractive feature for flexible DSCs that use transparent conductors as current collectors. Using this novel, iodide-free redox electrolyte in conjunction with a sensitized heterojunction, we achieved an unprecedented efficiency of 6.4% under standard illumination test conditions. This novel redox couple offers a viable pathway to develop efficient DSCs with attractive properties for scale up and practical applications.
染料敏化太阳能电池 (DSCs) 已实现超过 11%的太阳能转换效率，其电解质中含有三碘化物/碘化物作为氧化还原对。尽管三碘化物/碘化物氧化还原对在 DSCs 中有效，但它们存在两个主要缺点：含有三碘化物/碘化物的电解质会腐蚀银制成的电接触（这降低了 DSCs 扩展到模块尺寸的选项），并且三碘化物部分吸收可见光。在这里，我们提出了一种新的二硫化物/硫醇氧化还原对，它在可见光谱范围内的吸收可忽略不计，这对于使用透明导体作为集流器的柔性 DSCs 来说是一个非常吸引人的特性。在标准照明测试条件下，使用这种新型、不含碘化物的氧化还原电解质和敏化异质结，我们实现了前所未有的 6.4%的效率。这种新型氧化还原对为开发具有吸引力的高效 DSCs 提供了可行途径，可用于扩展和实际应用。
