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Rapid Double‐Dye‐Layer Coating for Dye‐Sensitized Solar Cells using a New Method
Author(s) -
Jung Cholong,
Han ChiHwan,
Moon Doo Kyung,
Jun Yongseok
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
chemsuschem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.412
H-Index - 157
eISSN - 1864-564X
pISSN - 1864-5631
DOI - 10.1002/cssc.201402232
Subject(s) - dye sensitized solar cell , coating , ruthenium , ethylene glycol , solvent , materials science , solar cell , chemical engineering , layer (electronics) , absorption (acoustics) , catalysis , electrode , chemistry , nanotechnology , organic chemistry , electrolyte , composite material , optoelectronics , engineering
Intensive research with the specific aim of developing inexpensive renewable energy sources is currently being undertaken. In dye‐sensitized solar cell (DSSC) production, the most time‐consuming process is coating the dye on working electrodes: absorption of ruthenium‐based dyes [e.g., N719=bis(trtrabutylammonium)‐ cis ‐di(thiocyanato)‐ N , N ′‐bis(4‐carboxylato‐4′‐carboxylic acid‐2,2′‐bipyridine) ruthenium(II)] on a photoanode takes a long time. We report a simple dye‐coating method using a mixed solvent of ethylene glycol (EG) and glycerol (Gly). According to our experiments, dye‐coating time can be reduced to 5 min from several hours. Maximum performance was obtained with an EG/Gly ratio of 1:1. This mixture of solvents gave a performance of 9.1 %. Furthermore, the viscous solvent system could control coating depth; positioning dye coatings to a specific depth was rapid and facile. A cell containing two different dyes (N719+black dye) had an efficiency of 9.4 %.