Electrolyte tuning in dye-sensitized solar cells with N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) iron(II) sensitizers.

ABSTRACT: We demonstrate that the performances of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) sensitized with a previously reported N-heterocyclic carbene iron(II) dye in the presence of chenodeoxycholic acid co-adsorbant, can be considerably improved by altering the composition of the electrolyte while retaining an I^-/I₃ ^- redox shuttle. Critical factors are the solvent, presence of ionic liquid, and the use of the additives 1-methylbenzimidazole (MBI) and 4-tert-butylpyridine (TBP). For the electrolyte solvent, 3-methoxypropionitrile (MPN) is preferable to acetonitrile, leading to a higher short-circuit current density (J _SC) with little change in the open-circuit voltage (V _OC). For electrolytes containing MPN, an ionic liqu

SUBMITTER: Karpacheva M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6317411 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature