Coupling of Zinc Porphyrin Dyes and Copper Electrolytes: A Springboard for Novel Sustainable Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells.

The combination of β-substituted Zn porphyrin dyes and copper-based electrolytes represents a sustainable route for economic and environmentally friendly dye-sensitized solar cells. Remarkably, a new copper electrolyte, [Cu(2-mesityl-1,10-phenanthroline)], exceeds the performance reached by Co and I/I reference electrolytes.

Electronic and charge transfer properties of bio-inspired flavylium ions for applications in TiO-based dye-sensitized solar cells.

We present here a complete study on four synthetic environmentally friendly flavylium salts employed as sensitizers for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The effect of several donor groups on the molecular structure of flavylium ions was investigated by combining electrochemical, spectroscopic and computational means. The computational investigation indicated that these molecules can interact strongly with the TiO surface by a single OH group of the dihydroxybenzene moiety, and can efficiently inject electrons into the TiO following the excitation of their lowest singlet states exhibiting charge transfer (CT) character.

Rapid Static Sensitizer Regeneration Enabled by Ion Pairing.

An anionic Co complex, [Co(TTT) (NCS)] (TTT = 4,4',4″-tri-tert-butyl-2,2':6',2″-terpyridine and NCS = isothiocyanate), was synthesized for use in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The Co complex was found to ion-pair with the hexacationic sensitizer [Ru(tmam)(dcb)] (tmam = 4,4'-bis(trimethylaminomethyl)-2,2'-bipyridine and dcb = 4,4'-(COH)-2,2'-bipyridine) anchored to TiO thin films immersed in acetonitrile solution. Visible light excitation of the ion pairs resulted in excited-state injection followed by rapid static regeneration of the oxidized sensitizer (<10 ns).

Correction: On the stability of manganese tris(β-diketonate) complexes as redox mediators in DSSCs.

Correction for 'On the stability of manganese tris(β-diketonate) complexes as redox mediators in DSSCs' by Stefano Carli et al., Phys. Chem.

On the stability of manganese tris(β-diketonate) complexes as redox mediators in DSSCs.

The photoelectrochemical properties and stability of dye sensitized solar cells containing Mn(β-diketonato)3 complexes, [Mn(III)(acac)3] () (acac = acetylacetonate), [Mn(III)(CF2)3] () (CF2 = 4,4-difluoro-1-phenylbutanate-1,3-dione), [Mn(III)(DBM)3] () (DBM = dibenzoylmethanate), [Mn(II)(CF2)3]TBA (TBA = tetrabutylammonium) () and [Mn(II)(DBM)3]TBA (), have been evaluated. At room temperature, the complexes undergo ligand exchange with 4-tert-butyl-pyridine, an additive commonly used in the solar device to reduce charge recombination at the photoanode. An increased device stability was achieved by using the Z907 dye and passivating the photoanode with short chain siloxanes.