Electron-transfer mechanism of dye-sensitized solar cells with high perfor-mance nano clay electrolytes

Satoshi Uchida^a, Hiroshi Segawa^b, Daiki Sakurai^b, Takaya Kubo^b, Juan Bisquert^c, Francisco Fabregat-Santiago^c, Victoria Gonzales-Pedro^c

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

Oral, Satoshi Uchida, presentation 248
Publication date: 5th February 2015

The dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) introduced by Graetzel in 1991 have received great attention over the past decade because of their potential for high energy conversion efficiency and low production cost^1,2). However, the presence of liquid electrolytes in such modules may result in some practical limitations of sealing and long-term stability due to the leakage of the liquid electrolyte. Recently, DSSCs with quasi-solid-state electrolyte with clay mineral have been proposed^3,4). The clay powder is attractive for its abundance in nature, high chemical stability and also because it is non-hazardous to humans. Moreover clay dispersed liquid shows thixotropic properties and is widely used in industry such as paint, cement, cosmetics, as a conventional gelator. However, according to these reports, the cell performances are still low because they are mostly usingnaturally occurring minerals. Here in this work, an artificial nano-clay powder (hydrotalcite, Mg₆Al₂CO₃(OH)₁₆·4H₂O) was synthesized as an additive of the electrolyte. The resulting cell performance showed 11.9% with nano clay electrolyte (10.1% without) for conventional N719 dye systems. The electron-transfer mechanism was also discussed to show very unique sponge-like buffer reaction on the nano clay surface^5-9).
Fig.1 Photovoltaic performance of DSSCs with different clay composition, Mg1-xAlx(OH)2(CO3)nｷmH2O and Mg0.75ZrxAl0.25-x(OH)2(CO3)nｷmH2O.
[1] B. O'regan, M. Graetzel, Nature, 353, 737-740 (1991). [2] M. Graetzel, Nature, 414, 338-344 (2001). [3] B. I. Ito, J. N. Freitas, M.-A. Paoli and A. F. Nogueira, J. Braz. Chem.Soc., 19(4), 688-696 (2008). [4] J. H. Park, B-W. Kim and J. H. Moon, Electrochem. Solid St., 11(10), B171-173 (2008). [5] T. Inoue, S. Uchida, T. Kubo and H. Segawa, ECSJ Autumn Meeting, Kyoto, 2A08 (2009) [6] S. Uchida, T. Inoue, T. Kubo and H. Segawa, MRS Proceedings, 1211E, R09-04 (2009). [7] X. Wang, S.A. Kulkarni, B.I. Ito, S.K. Batabyal, K. Nonomura, C.C. Wong, M. Gratzel, S.G. Mhaisalkar, and S. Uchida, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 5(2), 444 (2013). [8] X. Wang, X, R. Deng, S.A, Kulkarni, X.Y. Wang, S.S. Pramana, C.C. Wong, CC, M. Gratzel, M, S. Uchida, and S.G. Mhaisalkar, Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 1, 13 (2013). [9] X. Wang, S.A. Kulkarni, B. I. Ito, S.K. Batabyal, K. Nonomura, C.C. Wong, M. Graetzel, S.G. Mhaisalkar, S. Uchida, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 5(2), 444 (2013)

nanoGe is a prestigious brand of successful science conferences that are developed along the year in different areas of the world since 2009. Our worldwide conferences cover cutting-edge materials topics like perovskite solar cells, photovoltaics, optoelectronics, solar fuel conversion, surface science, catalysis and two-dimensional materials, among many others.

MATSUS

Previously nanoGe Spring Meeting (NSM) and nanoGe Fall Meeting (NFM), MATSUS is a multiple symposia conference focused on a broad set of topics of advanced materials preparation, their fundamental properties, and their applications, in fields such as renewable energy, photovoltaics, lighting, semiconductor quantum dots, 2-D materials synthesis, charge carriers dynamics, microscopy and spectroscopy semiconductors fundamentals, etc.

International Conference on Hybrid and Organic Photovoltaics

International Conference on Hybrid and Organic Photovoltaics (HOPV) is celebrated yearly in May. The main topics are the development, function and modeling of materials and devices for hybrid and organic solar cells. The field is now dominated by perovskite solar cells but also other hybrid technologies, as organic solar cells, quantum dot solar cells, and dye-sensitized solar cells and their integration into devices for photoelectrochemical solar fuel production.

Asia-Pacific International Conference on Perovskite, Organic Photovoltaics and Optoelectronics

The main topics of the Asia-Pacific International Conference on Perovskite, Organic Photovoltaics and Optoelectronics (IPEROP) are discussed every year in Asia-Pacific for gathering the recent advances in the fields of material preparation, modeling and fabrication of perovskite and hybrid and organic materials. Photovoltaic devices are analyzed from fundamental physics and materials properties to a broad set of applications. The conference also covers the developments of perovskite optoelectronics, including light-emitting diodes, lasers, optical devices, nanophotonics, nonlinear optical properties, colloidal nanostructures, photophysics and light-matter coupling.

International Conference on Perovskite Thin Film Photovoltaics Perovskite Photonics and Optoelectronics

The International Conference on Perovskite Thin Film Photovoltaics Perovskite Photonics and Optoelectronics (NIPHO) is the best place to hear the latest developments in perovskite solar cells as well as on recent advances in the fields of perovskite light-emitting diodes, lasers, optical devices, nanophotonics, nonlinear optical properties, colloidal nanostructures, photophysics and light-matter coupling.