title: New ruthenium sensitizers featuring bulky ancillary ligands combined with a dual functioned coadsorbent for high efficiency dye-sensitized solar cells.
abstract: Two ruthenium complexes featuring bulky ancillary ligands, XS48 and XS49, were synthesized and studied as dyes in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs). Both dyes exhibit higher solar-to-electrical energy conversion efficiency when compared to a commonly used N3 sensitizer under the same conditions. To examine the influence of the bulky ancillary ligands and alleviate the electron recombination in cells, we have developed a dual functioned truxene-based coadsorbent (MXD1) as an alternative candidate to chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA). This coadsorbent not only effectively shields the back electron transfer from the TiO(2) to I(3)(-) ions but also enhances the light harvesting ability in the short wavelength regions. The photovoltaic performance of XS48-sensitized DSC was independent of the coadsorbents, while XS49 with large bulky ancillary ligand presented better performance when coadsorbent was employed. Interestingly, the simultaneous adsorption-to-sequential adsorption of XS48/49 and MXD1 has caused a notably improved photovoltage, which can be primarily ascribed to the enhanced dye adsorption and retardation of charge recombination. These results not only provide a new vision on how ancillary ligands affect the performance of ruthenium complexes but also open up a new way to achieve further efficiency enhancement of ruthenium complexes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Chemistry, Tianjin University of Technology, Tianjin, 300384, PR China.
authors.forename: Yongbo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Mao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Lina
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Hongyu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Lingshan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: You
authors.forename: Zhe
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Song
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Xue
mesh_terms: D000327:Adsorption; D002635:Chenodeoxycholic Acid / Q000737:chemistry; D004396:Coloring Agents / Q000737:chemistry; D056831:Coordination Complexes / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry; D055664:Electrochemical Techniques; D008024:Ligands; D011789:Quantum Theory; D012428:Ruthenium / Q000737:chemistry*; D012993:Solar Energy
chemical_list: D004396:Coloring Agents; D056831:Coordination Complexes; D008024:Ligands; D002635:Chenodeoxycholic Acid; D012428:Ruthenium