Test of Different Sensitizing Dyes in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells Based on Nb 2 O 5 Photoanodes

Alessandro Latini and Riccardo Panetta
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Alessandro Latini: Dipartimento di Chimica, Università degli Studi di Roma “La Sapienza”, Piazzale Aldo Moro, 5 00185 Roma, Italy
Riccardo Panetta: Dipartimento di Chimica, Università degli Studi di Roma “La Sapienza”, Piazzale Aldo Moro, 5 00185 Roma, Italy

Energies, 2018, vol. 11, issue 4, 1-15

Abstract: High-performance dyes routinely employed in TiO 2 -based dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) were tested in cells assembled using Nb 2 O 5 nanostructure-based photoanodes. The sensitizers were chosen among both metal-complex (two Ru-based, N749 and C106, and one Zn-based dye, DNF12) and metal-free organic dyes (DNF01, DNF11 and DNF15). Two different sensitization processes were performed: the one commonly used for TiO 2 photoanodes, and a new process relying on high pressure by autoclavation. The assembled cells were characterized by current density–voltage ( J – V ) curves under air mass (AM) 1.5 G illumination and in the dark, incident photon-to-current efficiency (IPCE) measurements, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The tested cells show different proportional efficiencies of the dyes under investigation for Nb 2 O 5 - and TiO 2 -based devices. Furthermore, the results were compared with those obtained in our previous work using N719 anchored on Nb 2 O 5 . A remarkable efficiency value of 4.4% under 1 sun illumination was achieved by coupling the C106 dye with a nonvolatile electrolyte. This value is higher than the one attained under the same conditions by using N719.

Keywords: Nb 2 O 5; metal-free organic/metal-complex dye; dye-sensitized solar cells; photovoltaic property (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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