Panchromatic quasi-solid-state squaraine dye sensitized solar cells enhanced by Forster resonance energy transfer of DCM-pyran

The panchromatic operation of quasi-solid state dye sensitized solar cells is one of the most important criteria for enhancing the performance of solar cells. This paper presents a novel strategy for designing efficient panchromatic quasi-solid state dye sensitized solar cells that are enhanced by Forster resonance energy transfer. 4-(Dicyanomethylene)-2-methyl-6-(4-dimethylaminostyryl)-4H-pyran is excited by the irradiation of visible light with a short wavelength, and the excited energy is then transferred to a blue organic photosentizer, symmetrically structured squaraine. The addition of 4-(dicyanomethylene)-2-methyl-6-(4-dimethylaminostyryl)-4H-pyran to the quasi-solid electrolyte improves the photovoltaic performance of squaraine-sensitized solar cells. The optimized quasi-solid state dye sensitized solar cell exhibits approximately 1.8 times higher overall conversion efficiency than the solar cell without any fluorescence materials. In particular, the photocurrent is enhanced significantly at the absorption wavelength range of 4-(dicyanomethylene)-2-methy1-6-(4-dimethylaminostyryl)-4H-pyran, which means that the panchromatic quasi-solid state dye sensitized solar cell has been designed successfully. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.