Dye-sensitized solar cells have gained widespread attention in recent years because of their low production costs, ease of fabrication and tunable optical properties, such as colour and transparency. Here, we report a molecularly engineered porphyrin dye, coded SM315, which features the prototypical structure of a donor-pi-bridge-acceptor and both maximizes electrolyte compatibility and improves light-harvesting properties. Linear-response, time-dependent density functional theory was used to investigate the perturbations in the electronic structure that lead to improved light harvesting. Using SM315 with the cobalt(II/III) redox shuttle resulted in dye-sensitized solar cells that exhibit a high open-circuit voltage V-OC of 0.91 V, short-circuit current density J(SC) of 18.1 mA cm(-2), fill factor of 0.78 and a power conversion efficiency of 13%.
Michael Graetzel, Shaik Mohammed Zakeeruddin, Felix Thomas Eickemeyer, Peng Wang, Ming Ren
Mounir Driss Mensi, Masaud Hassan S Almalki, Anwar Qasem M Alanazi
Beat Ruhstaller, Urs Aeberhard