Characterization of the Pore Filling of Solid State Dye Sensitized Solar Cells with Photoinduced Absorption Spectroscopy

Near steady-state photoinduced absorption (PIA) and UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy are used to characterize the pore filling of spiro-MeOTAD (2,2′,7,7′-tetrakis-(N,N-di-p-methoxyphenylamine)9,9′-spirobifluorene) into the nanoparticulate TiO2electrode of a solid-state dye-sensitized solar cell (ssDSC). The volumetric ratio of filled to unfilled pore volumes, as well as the optical signature of interacting chemical species, that is, the hole-transfer yield (HTY), are investigated. PIA spectroscopy is used to measure the HTY, relative to the amount of spiro-MeOTAD present, without needing to determine the extinction coefficients of the dye and spiro-MeOTAD cation species. The Beer-Lambert law is used to relate the relative PIA signal to the penetration length of the hole-conductor in the TiO2film. For the sample thickness range of1.4–5 μm investigated here, the optimum characteristic penetration length is determined to be3.1+0.46 μm, which is compared to 1.4 μm for the 200 mgmL−1concentration of spiro-MeOTAD conventionally used. Therefore, doubling the effective penetration of spiro-MeOTAD is necessary to functionalize all the dye molecules in a ssDSC.

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Dye Regeneration by Spiro-MeOTAD in Solid State Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells Studied by Photoinduced Absorption Spectroscopy and Spectroelectrochemistry

The Journal of Physical Chemistry C ◽

10.1021/jp811196h ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 113 (15) ◽

pp. 6275-6281 ◽

Cited By ~ 87

Author(s):

Ute B. Cappel ◽

Elizabeth A. Gibson ◽

Anders Hagfeldt ◽

Gerrit Boschloo

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

Solid State ◽

Absorption Spectroscopy ◽

Dye Sensitized Solar Cells ◽

Photoinduced Absorption ◽

Dye Sensitized ◽

Dye Regeneration ◽

Sensitized Solar Cells

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CdS-Sensitized ZnO Nanorod Photoelectrodes: Photoelectrochemistry and Photoinduced Absorption Spectroscopy

Advances in OptoElectronics ◽

10.1155/2011/915123 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 2011 ◽

pp. 1-5 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Idriss Bedja

Keyword(s):

Absorption Spectroscopy ◽

Dye Sensitized Solar Cells ◽

Zno Nanorod ◽

Comparison Study ◽

Fast Decay ◽

Photoinduced Absorption ◽

Pore Filling ◽

Dye Sensitized ◽

Sensitized Solar Cells ◽

Zno Semiconductor

Thin films of ZnO semiconductor nanorods (ZnO-nr) of 6 μm length and thin ZnO nanoparticulate films (ZnO-np) have been prepared and modified with Q-dots CdS for comparison study. PIA (photoinduced absorption spectroscopy), a multipurpose tool in the study of dye-sensitized solar cells, is used to study a quantum-dot-modified metal-oxide nanostrucutred electrode. Q-dot CdS-sensitized ZnO-nr (1D network) sensitized photoelectrode has demonstrated best performances in both photoelectrical response (IPCE max = 92%) and broadening response into far visible comparing to ZnO-np-based CdS solar cell. Preadsorbing ZnO-nr with ZnO-np does not bring further improvement. Time constant for electron injection into ZnO-nr conduction band was relatively fast decay of 6.5 ms, similar to TiO2-coated CdS, and proves at least a well pore filling of ZnO-nr film by ultrafine CdS particles. Unidirectional electron transfer mechanistic in ZnO-nr has played a major role in these performances.

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