Enhanced Photovoltaic Performances of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells by Co-Sensitization of Benzothiadiazole and Squaraine-Based Dyes

Ashraful Islam; Md Akhtaruzzaman; Towhid H Chowdhury; Chuanjiang Qin; Liyuan Han; Idriss M Bedja; Romain Stalder; Kirk S Schanze; John R Reynolds

doi:10.1021/acsami.5b11134

Enhanced Photovoltaic Performances of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells by Co-Sensitization of Benzothiadiazole and Squaraine-Based Dyes

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2016 Feb;8(7):4616-23. doi: 10.1021/acsami.5b11134. Epub 2016 Feb 9.

Authors

Ashraful Islam¹, Md Akhtaruzzaman², Towhid H Chowdhury², Chuanjiang Qin¹, Liyuan Han¹, Idriss M Bedja³, Romain Stalder⁴, Kirk S Schanze⁴, John R Reynolds^{4

5}

Affiliations

¹ Photovoltaic Materials Unit, National Institute for Materials Science , 1-2-1 Sengen, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0047, Japan.
² Solar Energy Research Institute (SERI), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) , Bangi 43600, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia.
³ CRC, Optometry Department, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Saud University , Riyadh 11433, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Department of Chemistry, Center for Macromolecular Science and Engineering, University of Florida , Gainesville, Florida 32611, United States.
⁵ School of Chemistry and Biochemistry and School of Materials Science and Engineering, Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics, Georgia Tech Polymer Network, Georgia Institute of Technology , Atlanta, Georgia 30332, United States.

PMID: 26812212
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.5b11134

Abstract

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) based on a donor-acceptor-donor oligothienylene dye containing benzothiadiazole (T4BTD-A) were cosensitized with dyes containing cis-configured squaraine rings (HSQ3 and HSQ4). The cosensitized dyes showed incident monochromatic photon-to-current conversion efficiency (IPCE) greater than 70% in the 300-850 nm wavelength region. The individual overall conversion efficiencies of the sensitizers T4BTD-A, HSQ3, and HSQ4 were 6.4%, 4.8%, and 5.8%, respectively. Improved power conversion efficiencies of 7.0% and 7.7% were observed when T4BTD-A was cosensitized with HSQ3 and HSQ4, respectively, thanks to a significant increase in current density (JSC) for the cosensitized DSSCs. Intensity-modulated photovoltage spectroscopy results showed a longer lifetime for cosensitized T4BTD-A+HSQ3 and T4BTD-A+HSQ4 compared to that of HSQ3 and HSQ4, respectively.

Keywords: benzothiadiazole dye; co-sensitization; dye-sensitized solar cell; incident photon to current conversion efficiency; squaraine dye.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't