Abstract
To develop photosensitizers with high open-circuit photovoltage (Voc) is a crucial strategy to enhance the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of co-sensitized solar cells. Here, we show a judiciously tailored organic photosensitizer, coded MS5, featuring the bulky donor N-(2’,4’-bis(dodecyloxy)-[1,1’-biphenyl]-4-yl)-2’,4’-bis(dodecyloxy)-N-phenyl-[1,1’-biphenyl]-4-amine and the electron acceptor 4-(benzo[c][1,2,5]thiadiazol-4-yl)benzoic acid. Employing MS5 with a copper (II/I) electrolyte enables a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC) to achieve a strikingly high Voc of 1.24 V, with the Voc deficit as low as 130 mV and an ideality factor of merely 1.08. The co-sensitization of MS5 with the wider spectral-response dye XY1b produces a highly efficient and stable DSC with the PCE of 13.5% under standard AM1.5 G, 100 mW cm−2 solar radiation. Remarkably, the co-sensitized solar cell (active area of 2.8 cm2) presents a record PCE of 34.5% under ambient light, rendering it very attractive as an ambient light harvesting energy source for low power electronics.
Highlights
To develop photosensitizers with high open-circuit photovoltage (Voc) is a crucial strategy to enhance the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of co-sensitized solar cells
Compared to the dominant silicon PV, mesoscopic dyesensitized solar cells (DSCs) have a lower power conversion efficiency (PCE) under standard AM1.5G conditions but industrial applications are emerging for electricity producing glazing and ambient light harvesting to power consumer electronic devices and sensors
The synthetic routes of MS4 and MS5 are depicted in the Supplementary Information (SI)
Summary
To develop photosensitizers with high open-circuit photovoltage (Voc) is a crucial strategy to enhance the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of co-sensitized solar cells. Compared to the reference dye NT35 employing the Hagfeldt donor and cyanoacrylic acid (CA)[28] as electron acceptor, MS4 with the same donor but BTBA as acceptor has lower interfacial charge recombination rates and higher Voc. By further elongating the end chains of the Hagfeldt donor of MS4 from n-hexyloxy to n-dodecyloxy, the resulting MS5 further suppresses the interfacial charge recombination enabling Voc of 1.24 V, a record among copper-based DSCs. MS5 has a Voc deficit as low as 130 mV and an ideality factor of merely 1.08, which is the lowest value reported for DSCs. The co-sensitization of the high-Voc MS5 with a wide spectral-response dye XY1b shows an impressive PCE of 13.5% under standard AM1.5G sunlight condition and remains stable for 1000 h under light soaking conditions. A MS5 + XY1b co-sensitized DSC with an active area of 2.8 cm[2] achieves a record PCE of 34.5% under ambient light at 1000 lux, with a notable Voc of 0.98 V and power output of 109.8 μW cm−2
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