Investigation on the coordination between methylpyridine additives and the [Cu(dmp) 2 ] 2+/+ redox couple and its improvement towards the stability of the dye-sensitized solar cells

In dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), the use of copper( ii / i ) complex redox couples enables a high open-circuit voltage of greater than 1.0 V. However, the widely used electrolyte additive, 4- tert -butylpyridine (TBP), poisons the copper( ii ) complex, resulting in poor device stability. In th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sustainable energy & fuels 2024-05, Vol.8 (10), p.2256-2264
Main Authors: Nguyen, Vinh Son, Kannankutty, Kala, Chen, Yu-Hsuan, Wang, Ding-Cheng, Yeh, Chen-Yu, Wei, Tzu-Chien
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Additives
Coordination
Copper
Dye-sensitized solar cells
Dyes
Electrochemical analysis
Electrochemistry
Electrolytes
Electrolytic cells
Electrons
Energy conversion efficiency
Ion diffusion
Magnetic resonance
Magnetic resonance spectroscopy
NMR
NMR spectroscopy
Nuclear magnetic resonance
Open circuit voltage
Performance degradation
Poisons
Pyridines
Redox properties
Solar cells
Spectrophotometry
Spectroscopy
Stability
Titration
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Summary:In dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), the use of copper( ii / i ) complex redox couples enables a high open-circuit voltage of greater than 1.0 V. However, the widely used electrolyte additive, 4- tert -butylpyridine (TBP), poisons the copper( ii ) complex, resulting in poor device stability. In this study, a series of pyridine derivatives 2-methylpyridine (2MP), 3-methylpyridine (3MP), 4-methylpyridine (4MP), and 3,5-dimethylpyridine (35DMP) were studied as alternatives to TBP for solving or mitigating the TBP-induced performance degradation. The coordination between the additives and copper( ii ) complex was extensively studied using ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometric titration, cyclic voltammetry, and 1 H-nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The moiety position on the pyridine ring was found to greatly affect the electrochemical properties of the redox couple. The 35DMP penta-coordinated copper( ii ) was found to least affect the electrochemical activity at the counter electrode and ionic diffusion in the bulk electrolyte. A DSSC with a 35DMP additive outperforms its TBP-based counterparts in not only power conversion efficiency but also long-term stability.
ISSN:2398-4902
2398-4902
DOI:10.1039/D3SE00983A