Perylene imide dyes for solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells: Spectroscopy, energy levels and photovoltaic performance

We report the solid-state dye-sensitized solar cell performances of perylene imide using nanoporous TiO(2) electrodes. Solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells were fabricated using the organic hole-transporting medium (HTM) 2,2'7,7'-tetrakis-(N,N-di-p-methoxyphenyl-amine)-9,9'-spirobifluorene (spiro-OMeTAD). The experimental E(LUMO) levels of perylene imide dyes are found to be 3.75 and 3.77 eV, respectively. Therefore, perylene imide dyes can inject electrons to the conduction band of titanium dioxide in organic dye-sensitized solar cells. TiO(2) thin films of about 2 mu m in thicknesses were prepared. Both preparation and thickness of the compact TiO(2) layer were optimized using spray pyrolysis. The studies revealed that an optimum film thickness of 130-150 nm of compact TiO(2) yielded the best rectifying behavior and SDSC performance. In this work, our goal was to investigate the performance of perylene sensitizers in connection with spiro-OMeTAD hole transport material. Short-circuit current densities, open circuit voltages and overall conversion efficiencies of the solar cell with 2,2'7,7'-tetrakis-(N,N-di-p-methoxyphenyl-amine)-9,9'-spirobifluorene(spiro-OMeTAD) as a hole conductor and perylene imide as sensitizer on mesoporous TiO(2) were investigated. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.