Merker Stefan, Krautscheid Harald, Zahn Stefan
Institut für Anorganische Chemie, Universität Leipzig, Johannisallee 29, 04103, Leipzig, Germany.
Leibniz Institute of Surface Engineering (IOM), Permoserstraße 15, 04318, Leipzig, Germany.
J Mol Model. 2018 Oct 18;24(11):317. doi: 10.1007/s00894-018-3848-8.
Efficient n-type dye-sensitized solar cells are known since the seminal work of O'Reagan and Grätzel in 1991. However, highly efficient p-type dye-sensitized solar cells have not been developed so far. This hinders the construction of tandem dye-sensitized solar cells, which can surpass the performance of n-type devices. Within this work, we investigate if a temporary coordination of transition metal-based redox mediators at a sensitizer can increase the efficiency of p-type dye-sensitized solar cells. Based on a computational screening, diverse Cu, Ni, and Co redox mediators were selected to construct p-type dye-sensitized solar cells. Unfortunately, the efficiency of the investigated devices does not surpass analogous cells with iodide-triiodide as redox mediator. While Ni and Cu complexes might be reduced to Ni(0) and Cu(0), respectively, the investigated Co-complex quenches the excited state efficiently. As a result, the necessary electron injection from the semiconductor is too slow, which hinders the construction of a highly efficient p-type dye-sensitized solar cell. Graphical Abstract Comparison of the mode of action of p-type dye-sensitized solar cells. While top shows the traditional one, bottom shows the investigated devices where a temporary link between dye and redox mediator plays a crucial role.
自1991年奥雷根和格拉策尔的开创性工作以来，高效的n型染料敏化太阳能电池已为人所知。然而，迄今为止尚未开发出高效的p型染料敏化太阳能电池。这阻碍了串联染料敏化太阳能电池的构建，而串联电池的性能可以超越n型器件。在这项工作中，我们研究了过渡金属基氧化还原介质在敏化剂处的临时配位是否能提高p型染料敏化太阳能电池的效率。基于计算筛选，选择了多种铜、镍和钴氧化还原介质来构建p型染料敏化太阳能电池。不幸的是，所研究器件的效率并未超过以碘化碘/碘化物作为氧化还原介质的类似电池。虽然镍和铜配合物可能分别被还原为Ni(0)和Cu(0)，但所研究的钴配合物能有效淬灭激发态。结果，来自半导体的必要电子注入太慢，这阻碍了高效p型染料敏化太阳能电池的构建。图形摘要p型染料敏化太阳能电池作用模式的比较。上面展示的是传统模式，下面展示的是所研究的器件，其中染料和氧化还原介质之间的临时连接起着关键作用。
