New paradigm in molecular engineering of sensitizers for solar cell applications.

A novel thiocyanate-free cyclometalleted ruthenium sensitizer for solar cells is designed and developed. Upon anchoring to nanocrystalline TiO(2) films, it exhibits a remarkable incident monochromatic photon-to-current conversion efficiency of 83%. The solar cell employing a liquid-based electrolyte exhibits a short circuit photocurrent density of 17 mA/cm(2), an open circuit voltage of 800 mV, and a fill factor of 0.

Effect of pH on the interaction between zwitterions and titanium oxide.

The isoelectric points (IEPs) of two zwitterions, glycine and both-terminals-terminated poly(ethylene glycol) (NH(2)-PEG-COOH), were determined from the titration curves, and the thicknesses of zwitterion layers immobilized on titanium (Ti) with immersion and electrodeposition at various pH based on IEPs were evaluated with ellipsometry to investigate the effect of pH and the immobilization technique on the interactions between the zwitterions and the Ti surface. From the titration curves, pK(1), pK(2), and the IEP of glycine were determined as 2.8, 8.

Characteristics of high efficiency dye-sensitized solar cells.

Impedance spectroscopy was applied to investigate the characteristics of dye-sensitized nanostructured TiO2 solar cells (DSC) with high efficiencies of light to electricity conversion of 11.1% and 10.2%.