High Excitation Transfer Efficiency from Energy Relay Dyes in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

The energy relay dye, 4-(Dicyanomethylene)-2-methyl-6-(4-dimethylaminostyryl)-4H-pyran (DCM), was used with a near-infrared sensitizing dye, TT1, to increase the overall power conversion efficiency of a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC) from 3.5% to 4.5%. The unattached DCM dyes exhibit an average excitation transfer efficiency (ETE) of 96% inside TT1-covered, mesostructured TiO2 films. Further performance increases were limited by the solubility of DCM in an acetonitrile based electrolyte. This demonstration shows that energy relay dyes can be efficiently implemented in optimized dye-sensitized solar cells, but also highlights the need to design highly soluble energy relay dyes with high molar extinction coefficients.