Synthesis and Photovoltaic Performance of Polythiophene Dye for Polymer-Sensitized Solar Cells

Abstract

Poly[(3-thiophenecarboxylic acid)-co-(3-thienyl)-8-(4-octyloxy-4′-nitrostilbenyl) acetate]] (P3TAA-co-P3TDANS) has been synthesized to examined the photosensitizer property on polymer-sensitized solar cells (PSSCs). The resulting copolymer, P3TAA-co-P3TDANS, has good solubility and reasonable molecular weight. The weight-average molecular weight (M_w) and polydispersity of P3TAA-co-P3TDANS were 7.9 × 10³ g/mol and 1.73, respectively. PSSCs with a configuration of SnO₂:F/TiO₂/polymer dye/electrolyte/Pt devices were fabricated by using P3TAA-co-P3TDANS as a photosensitizer. The maximum power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the PSSC based on liquid electrolyte is 0.01% (at 1 sun) for PSSCs.

Keywords:

• Photovoltaic performance
• polymer-sensitized solar cell
• polythiophenes

Acknowledgment

This work was supported by the New & Renewable Energy program of the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP) grant (No. 20103020010050) funded by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, Republic of Korea, and the Converging Research Center Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (2009-0082141), and the Korean Center for Artificial Photosyntheis (KCAP) located in Sogang University funded by the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology (MEST) through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF-2009-C1AAA001-2009-0093879).