Premium
Does Iodine or Thiocyanate Play a Role in p‐Type Dye‐Sensitized Solar Cells?
Author(s) -
Wood Christopher J.,
McGregor Calum A.,
Gibson Elizabeth A.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
chemelectrochem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.182
H-Index - 59
ISSN - 2196-0216
DOI - 10.1002/celc.201600387
Subject(s) - dye sensitized solar cell , thiocyanate , iodide , electrolyte , non blocking i/o , redox , tandem , iodine , photochemistry , chemistry , energy conversion efficiency , inorganic chemistry , materials science , catalysis , optoelectronics , electrode , organic chemistry , composite material
Abstract Charge recombination at the NiO/electrolyte interface is one of the performance‐limiting factors that prevent p‐type dye‐sensitized solar cells (p‐DSCs) from matching the efficiency of conventional TiO 2 devices. This article describes the role of redox mediator species I − , I 3 − , and I 2 in the charge‐transfer processes at the NiO/electrolyte interface. NiO appears to catalyze the oxidation of iodide but the addition of guanidinium thiocyanate inhibits recombination by forming a complex with I 2 . This increases the voltage but decreases the current so the efficiency is only slightly improved. These results suggest that new redox electrolytes will be needed if tandem DSCs are to exceed the efficiency of state‐of‐the‐art TiO 2 devices.