title: Development of high efficiency 100% aqueous cobalt electrolyte dye-sensitised solar cells.
abstract: In this study we report the application of three cobalt redox shuttles in 100% aqueous electrolyte dye-sensitised solar cells (DSCs). By using chloride as a counter-ion for cobalt bipyridine, cobalt phenanthroline and cobalt bipyridine pyrazole, the redox shuttles were made water soluble; no surfactant or further treatment was necessary. A simple system of merely the redox shuttles and 1-methylbenzimidazole (MBI) in water as an electrolyte in combination with an organic dye and a mesoporous PEDOT counter electrode was optimised. The optimisation resulted in an average efficiency of 5.5% (record efficiency of 5.7%) at 1 sun. The results of this study present promising routes for further improvements of aqueous cobalt electrolyte DSCs.
authors.affiliation: Physical Chemistry, Center of Molecular Devices, Department of Chemistry - Ångström Laboratory, Uppsala University, SE-75120 Uppsala, Sweden. gerrit.boschloo@kemi.uu.se.
authors.forename: Hanna
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ellis
authors.affiliation: Physical Chemistry, Center of Molecular Devices, Department of Chemistry - Ångström Laboratory, Uppsala University, SE-75120 Uppsala, Sweden. gerrit.boschloo@kemi.uu.se.
authors.forename: Roger
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Physical Chemistry, Center of Molecular Devices, Department of Chemistry - Ångström Laboratory, Uppsala University, SE-75120 Uppsala, Sweden. gerrit.boschloo@kemi.uu.se.
authors.forename: Sofie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.affiliation: Physical Chemistry, Center of Molecular Devices, Department of Chemistry - Ångström Laboratory, Uppsala University, SE-75120 Uppsala, Sweden. gerrit.boschloo@kemi.uu.se and Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, Laboratory of Photomolecular Science, Institute of Chemical Science and Engineering, EPFL-FSB-ISIC-LSPM, Station 6, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland and Center of Excellence for Advanced Materials Research, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 215889, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Anders
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hagfeldt
authors.affiliation: Physical Chemistry, Center of Molecular Devices, Department of Chemistry - Ångström Laboratory, Uppsala University, SE-75120 Uppsala, Sweden. gerrit.boschloo@kemi.uu.se.
authors.forename: Gerrit
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Boschloo