Towards new dyes and scanning electrochemical microscopy as a tool to evaluate surface processes in dye sensitized solar cells

Edwin Constable^a, Angelo Lanzilotto^a, Catherine Housecroft^a, Alexandra Wiesler^a

^aUniversity of Basel, Spitalstrasse, 51, Basel, Switzerland

International Conference on Hybrid and Organic Photovoltaics
Proceedings of International Conference on Hybrid and Organic Photovoltaics 2015 (HOPV15)

Roma, Italy, 2015 May 11th - 13th

Organizer: Filippo De Angelis

Poster, Alexandra Wiesler, 345
Publication date: 5th February 2015

The presented work explores various phosphonic acid derivatized ruthenium-based complexes specifically designed be used as sensitizers in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs). The dye used in such a device, is one of the key components to reach high efficiencies since it provides an efficient mechanism for light-harvesting and electron injection. Among the most efficient dyes are ruthenium-based complexes like N3, N719 and N749.^1,2 One of the drawbacks of using these dyes is their instability in water. Phosphonic acids as anchoring groups have shown to result in more stable adducts under the same conditions.^3-5 Another part of the project focuses on the application of scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM) as a method for high throughput validation of DCSs. The technique holds great potential when it comes to examining the surface properties of various photoactive systems, because of its high sensitivity below the micrometer scale. The technique is coupled with a light source to allow us to investigate the surface charge in the DSC anode. The surface current is monitored as a function of the working electrode potential, light intensity and tip position with regard to the titanim dioxide surface. We can observe not only surface topology and reactivity, but also, for example, the equilibration of surface charges upon illumination.
Figure 1: Working principle of (a) a DSC and (b) the SECM-DSC cell setup.
[1] Rees, T. W.; Baranoff, E. Ruthenium complexes with tridentate ligands for dye-sensitized solar cells. Polyhedron, 2014, 82, 37-49. [2] Colombo, A.; Dragonetti, C.; Valore, A.; Coluccini, C.; Manfredi, N.; Abotto, A.Thiocyanate-free ruthenium(II) 2,20-bipyridyl complexes for dye-sensitized solar cells. Polyhedron, 2014, 82, 50-56. [3] Norris, R. M.; Concepcion, J. J.; Glasson, C. R. K.; Fang, Z.; Lapides, A. M.; Ashford, D. L.; Templeton, J. L.; Meyer, T. J. Synthesis of Phosphonic Acid Derivatized Bipyridine Ligands and Their Ruthenium Complexes. Inorg. Chem., 2013, 52, 12492-12501. [4] Hanson, K.; Brennaman, M. K.; Luo, H.; Glasson, C. R. K.; Concepcion, J. J.; Song, W.; Meyer, T. J. Photostability of Phosphonate-Derivatized, RuII Polypyridyl Complexes on Metal Oxide Surfaces. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 2012, 4, 1462-1469. [5] Bae, E.; Choi, W.; Park, J.; Shin, H. S.; Kim, S. B.; Lee, J. S. Effects of Surface Anchoring Groups (Carboxylate vs Phosphonate) in Ruthenium-Complex-Sensitized TiO2 on Visible Light Reactivity in Aqueous Suspensions. J. Phys. Chem. B, 2004, 108, 14093. [6] Martin, C. J.; Bozic-Weber, B.; Constable, E. C.; Glatzel, T.; Housecroft, C. E.; Wright, I. A. Development of scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM) techniques for the optimization of dye sensitized solar cells. Electrochimica Acta, 2014, 119, 86-91.

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