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The Effect of Hole Transport Material Pore Filling on Photovoltaic Performance in Solid‐State Dye‐Sensitized Solar Cells
Author(s) -
MelasKyriazi John,
Ding IKang,
Marchioro Arianna,
Punzi Angela,
Hardin Brian E.,
Burkhard George F.,
Tétreault Nicolas,
Grätzel Michael,
Moser JacquesE.,
McGehee Michael D.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
advanced energy materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 10.08
H-Index - 220
eISSN - 1614-6840
pISSN - 1614-6832
DOI - 10.1002/aenm.201100046
Subject(s) - materials science , ambipolar diffusion , dye sensitized solar cell , photovoltaic system , photocurrent , diffusion , energy conversion efficiency , absorption (acoustics) , chemical engineering , optoelectronics , analytical chemistry (journal) , composite material , chemistry , organic chemistry , thermodynamics , plasma , electrical engineering , physics , electrode , quantum mechanics , electrolyte , engineering
Abstract A detailed investigation of the effect of hole transport material (HTM) pore filling on the photovoltaic performance of solid‐state dye‐sensitized solar cells (ss‐DSCs) and the specific mechanisms involved is reported. It is demonstrated that the efficiency and photovoltaic characteristics of ss‐DSCs improve with the pore filling fraction (PFF) of the HTM, 2,2’,7,7’‐tetrakis‐( N , N ‐di‐ p ‐methoxyphenylamine)9,9’‐spirobifluorene(spiro‐OMeTAD). The mechanisms through which the improvement of photovoltaic characteristics takes place were studied with transient absorption spectroscopy and transient photovoltage/photocurrent measurements. It is shown that as the spiro‐OMeTAD PFF is increased from 26% to 65%, there is a higher hole injection efficiency from dye cations to spiro‐OMeTAD because more dye molecules are covered with spiro‐OMeTAD, an order‐of‐magnitude slower recombination rate because holes can diffuse further away from the dye/HTM interface, and a 50% higher ambipolar diffusion coefficient due to an improved percolation network. Device simulations predict that if 100% PFF could be achieved for thicker devices, the efficiency of ss‐DSCs using a conventional ruthenium‐dye would increase by 25% beyond its current value.