title: Siliconized triarylamines as redox mediator in dye-sensitized solar cells.
abstract: A new class of triarylamine compound functionalized with bulky triisopropylsilyl ether (-OTIPS) groups is used as a hole transport material in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Using both optical and photoelectrochemical techniques, we compared the performance of this compound with that of a parent compound containing methyl ethers as well as the conventional I₃⁻/I⁻ redox couple. DSSCs fabricated with the triisopropylsilyl ether-substituted triarylamine exhibited high open circuit potentials (V(oc) > 0.9 V on average) and efficiencies of up to 1.9%. However, cells fabricated with triarylamine containing methyl ethers performed very poorly, pointing to the importance of -OTIPS in the overall performance of this material.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, York University, Toronto, Ontario M3J 1P3, Canada.
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sepehrifard
authors.forename: Brett A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Kamino
authors.forename: Timothy P
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Bender
authors.forename: Sylvie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Morin
mesh_terms: D000588:Amines / Q000737:chemistry*; D004396:Coloring Agents / Q000737:chemistry*; D011211:Electric Power Supplies; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D012825:Silicon / Q000737:chemistry*; D012993:Solar Energy
chemical_list: D000588:Amines; D004396:Coloring Agents; D012825:Silicon