Charge Separation in Solid-State Dye-Sensitized Heterojunction Solar Cells

Abstract

Dye-sensitized nanocrystalline solar cells are presently under intensive investigation, as they offer an attractive alternative to conventional p--n junction devices. Solid-state versions have been described where the electrolyte present in the pores of the malodorous oxide film is replaced by a large band gap p-type semiconductor. In this way, a solid-state heterojunction of very large contact area is formed. Light is absorbed by the dye that is located at the interface. Upon excitation, the dye injects electrons into the conduction band of the oxide and is regenerated by hole injection into the p-type conductor. High incident photon-to-electric current conversion efficiencies have been achieved recently with a cell consisting of a dye-derivatized mesoporous TiO{sub 2} film contacted by a new organic hole conductor. The great advantage of such systems with regard to conventional p--n junctions is that only majority carriers are involved in the photoelectric conversion process. Moreover, these are generated by the dye precisely at the site of the junction where the electric field is maximal, enhancing charge separation. Photoelectric conversion by conventional solar cells involves minority carriers whose lifetime is restricted due to recombination. As they are generated throughout the semiconductor and away from the junction, expensive high-purity materialsmore » are required in order to maintain the minority carrier diffusion length at a level where current losses are avoided. While the dynamics of photoinduced redo processes in photoelectrochemical systems have been studied in great detail, little is known about the electron-transfer dynamics in solid-state sensitized junctions. Here the authors report for the first time on the direct observation of photoinduced, interfacial charge separation across a dye-sensitized solid-state heterojunction by means of picosecond transient absorption laser spectroscopy.« less