Abstract
Nickel oxide (NiO) thin films with thickness ranging in the interval 0.2 - 3.5 μm have been deposited onto conductive transparent substrate via the method of plasma-assisted rapid discharge sintering (RDS) with microwave heating starting from NiO nanoparticles with diameter 50 nm. The optical and electrochemical properties of the RDS NiO films in the pristine state were characterized in non aqueous electrolyte with the solvent 3-methoxy-propionitrile (3-MPN). Upon electrochemical cycling of NiO in 3-MPN we observed two characteristic oxidation peaks referring to the two nickel centred processes Ni(II)→Ni(III) and Ni(III)→Ni(IV), which are both localized prevalently on the surface of the metallic oxide. The oxide films prepared with the RDS method were also sensitized with different types of commercial dyes, either organometallic (N719, black dye) or organic (squaraine 2, erythrosine B), to compare the corresponding p-type dye-sensitized solar cells (p-DSCs). All dyes here employed matched the energies of their frontier orbitals with the upper edge of NiO valence band and the redox level of the triiodide/iodide couple. The comparison of the performances of the p-DSCs based on RDS NiO which differed exclusively for the nature of the sensitizer showed that the extent of electronic conjugation in the structure of the dye is crucial for the control of the photovoltaic performance of the corresponding p-DSC.
Highlights
Nickel oxide (NiO) is a chemically stable material with semiconducting properties of p-type, [1] which is used as electroactive component in several important technologies ranging from batteries [2] to electrochromic windows, [3] [4] and, more recently, from water splitting electrolysers [5] [6] to dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) [7] [8] among others [9]
Further to that we have considered the comparative characterization of the p-type dye-sensitized solar cells (p-DSCs) derived from the sensitization of rapid discharge sintering (RDS) NiO with the series of commercial dyes N719, black dye (BD), squaraine 2 (SQ2), and erythrosine B (ERY B) (Figure 1) utilizing the same type of NiO cathode
Mesoporous nickel oxide (NiO) thin films have been prepared via plasma-assisted rapid discharge sintering (RDS) with microwave heating and were employed as photoactive cathodes in p-type dye-sensitized solar cells (p-DSCs)
Summary
Nickel oxide (NiO) is a chemically stable material with semiconducting properties of p-type, [1] which is used as electroactive component in several important technologies ranging from batteries [2] to electrochromic windows, [3] [4] and, more recently, from water splitting electrolysers [5] [6] to dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) [7] [8] among others [9]. Tandem DSCs generally ameloriate their photovoltage characteristics compared to the conventional DSCs with a single photoactive component, while lose in current density due to the still lacking matching of the current flows in the best performing sensitized anodes and sensitized cathodes The latter electrodes defect generally of relatively poor charge injection efficiency [17], high but non utilizable optical self-absorption in the non-sensitized state [20], and trapping of the photoinjected charge caused by the frequent occurrence of redox reactions within p-type oxides which are characterized by mixed valence [21]. Further to that we have considered the comparative characterization of the p-DSCs derived from the sensitization of RDS NiO with the series of commercial dyes N719, black dye (BD), squaraine 2 (SQ2), and erythrosine B (ERY B) (Figure 1) utilizing the same type of NiO cathode
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