Photocurrent Enhanced by Singlet Fission in a Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell
- 21 January 2015
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Chemical Society (ACS) in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
- Vol. 7 (4), 2286-2293
- https://doi.org/10.1021/am506329v
Abstract
Investigations of singlet fission have accelerated recently because of its potential utility in solar photoconversion, although only a few reports definitively identify the role of singlet fission in a complete solar cell. Evidence of the influence of singlet fission in a dye-sensitized solar cell using 1,3-diphenylisobenzofuran (DPIBF, 1) as the sensitizer is reported here. Self-assembly of the blue-absorbing 1 with co-adsorbed oxidation products on mesoporous TiO2 yields a cell with a peak internal quantum efficiency of ∼70% and a power conversion efficiency of ∼1.1%. Introducing a ZrO2 spacer layer of thickness varying from 2 to 20 Å modulates the short-circuit photocurrent such that it is initially reduced as thickness increases but 1 with 10-15 Å of added ZrO2. This rise can be explained as being due to a reduced rate of injection of electrons from the S1 state of 1 such that singlet fission, known to occur with a 30 ps time constant in polycrystalline films, has the opportunity to proceed efficiently and produce two T1 states per absorbed photon that can subsequently inject electrons into TiO2. Transient spectroscopy and kinetic simulations confirm this novel mode of dye-sensitized solar cell operation and its potential utility for enhanced solar photoconversion.Keywords
Funding Information
- Basic Energy Sciences (DE-AC36-08GO28308, DE-SC0007004)
This publication has 39 references indexed in Scilit:
- Charge Transport and Recombination in Perovskite (CH3NH3)PbI3 Sensitized TiO2 Solar CellsThe Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, 2013
- External Quantum Efficiency Above 100% in a Singlet-Exciton-Fission–Based Organic Photovoltaic CellScience, 2013
- Search for a Small Chromophore with Efficient Singlet Fission: Biradicaloid HeterocyclesJournal of the American Chemical Society, 2012
- Efficient Singlet Fission Discovered in a Disordered Acene FilmJournal of the American Chemical Society, 2012
- High Triplet Yield from Singlet Fission in a Thin Film of 1,3-DiphenylisobenzofuranJournal of the American Chemical Society, 2010
- Singlet FissionChemical Reviews, 2010
- Toward Designed Singlet Fission: Electronic States and Photophysics of 1,3-DiphenylisobenzofuranThe Journal of Physical Chemistry A, 2009
- Singlet Fission for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells: Can a Suitable Sensitizer Be Found?Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2006
- Electron Transfer from the Singlet and Triplet Excited States of Ru(dcbpy)2(NCS)2into Nanocrystalline TiO2Thin FilmsThe Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 2002
- Autoxidation and Photooxidation of 1,3-Diphenylisobenzofuran: A Kinetic and Product StudyCanadian Journal of Chemistry, 1975