The use of 2,6-bis ( N-pyrazolyl) pyridine as an efficient dopant in conjugation with poly(ethylene oxide) for nanocrystalline dye-sensitized solar cells

Abstract

Poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO)/2,6-bis ( N-pyrazolyl) pyridine (BNPP) polymer electrolyte based photoelectrochemical cells have been fabricated with [cis-dithiocyanato- N, N-bis (2,2′ bipyridyl-4, 4′ dicarboxylic acid)ruthenium(II)] dihydrate (N3 dye) dye complex as the sensitizer and nanoporous TiO 2 film as photo anode. The introduction of 2,6-bis ( N-pyrazolyl) pyridine into the poly (ethylene oxide) matrix reduces the crystallinity of the polymer and enhances the mobility of I −/I 3 − redox couple resulting in an improved performance with a higher conversion efficiency of 8.8% in terms of light energy to electric energy when compared to that of the corresponding dye-sensitized nanocrystalline TiO 2 solar cell.