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Dependence of the Efficiency Improvement of Black‐Dye‐Based Dye‐Sensitized Solar Cells on Alkyl Chain Length of Quaternary Ammonium Cations in Electrolyte Solutions
Author(s) -
Ozawa Hironobu,
Okuyama Yu,
Arakawa Hironori
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
chemphyschem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.016
H-Index - 140
eISSN - 1439-7641
pISSN - 1439-4235
DOI - 10.1002/cphc.201301025
Subject(s) - electrolyte , dye sensitized solar cell , chemistry , energy conversion efficiency , alkyl , iodide , ammonium , inorganic chemistry , ruthenium , electron transfer , ammonium iodide , tetraethylammonium , photochemistry , catalysis , materials science , organic chemistry , electrode , potassium , optoelectronics
Dependence of the suppression of the backward electron transfer reaction from the TiO 2 photoelectrode to I 3 − in the electrolyte on the alkyl chain length of the quaternary ammonium cation has been investigated for further efficiency improvement of high‐performance cosensitized dye‐sensitized solar cells (DSCs). The tetraheptylammonium cation was found to be more effective than the tetraethylammonium and tetrabutylammonium cations for the suppression of the backward electron transfer reaction without changing the conduction band energy of TiO 2 . 12.0 % conversion efficiency, which is the second highest efficiency for DSCs based on ruthenium sensitizers, was achieved in the cosensitized DSC with Black dye and D131 by using an electrolyte solution containing a moderate concentration of tetraheptylammonium iodide.