A Hydroxamic Acid Anchoring Group for Durable Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells Incorporating a Cobalt Redox Shuttle

ChemSusChem. 2017 Sep 11;10(17):3347-3351. doi: 10.1002/cssc.201701157. Epub 2017 Aug 16.

Abstract

A hydroxamic acid group has been employed for the first time as an anchoring group for cobalt-based dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The porphyrin dye YD2-o-C8HA including a hydroxamic acid anchoring group exhibited a power conversion efficiency (η) of 6.4 %, which is close to that of YD2-o-C8, a representative porphyrin dye incorporating a conventional carboxylic acid. More importantly, YD2-o-C8HA was found to be superior to YD2-o-C8 in terms of both binding ability to TiO2 and durability of cobalt-based DSSCs. Notably, YD2-o-C8HA photocells revealed a higher η-value (4.1 %) than YD2-o-C8 (2.8 %) after 500 h illumination. These results suggest that the hydroxamic acid can be used for DSSCs with other transition-metal-based redox shuttle to ensure high cell durability as well as excellent photovoltaic performance.

Keywords: anchoring group; cobalt; dye-sensitized solar cells; hydroxamic acid; porphyrins.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Cobalt / chemistry*
  • Coloring Agents / chemistry*
  • Electric Conductivity
  • Electric Power Supplies*
  • Hydroxamic Acids / chemistry*
  • Oxidation-Reduction
  • Porphyrins / chemistry
  • Solar Energy*

Substances

  • Coloring Agents
  • Hydroxamic Acids
  • Porphyrins
  • Cobalt