Fused-Thiophene Based Materials for Organic Photovoltaics and Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

Polymers

Prabakaran Kumaresan³  Sureshraju Vegiraju³  Yamuna Ezhumalai³  Shueh Lin Yau³  Choongik Kim¹  Wen-Hsi Lee⁴  Ming-Chou Chen³  Robert P. H. Chang² 

[1] Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Sogang University, 1 Shinsoo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul 121742, KoreaDepartment of Chemistry, National Central University, Jhong-Li 32001, Taiwan;;Department of Chemistry, National Central University, Jhong-Li 32001, Taiwan; E-Mails:;Department of Electrical Engineering, National Cheng-Kung University, No.1 University road, Tainan 701, Taiwan

关键词: organic photovoltaics;    dye-sensitized solar cells;    solar energy;    fused-thiophenes;   

DOI  :  10.3390/polym6102645

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Organic photovoltaics (OPVs) and dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) have drawn great interest from both academics and industry, due to the possibility of low-cost conversion of photovoltaic energy at reasonable efficiencies. This review focuses on recent progress in molecular engineering and technological aspects of fused-thiophene-based organic dye molecules for applications in solar cells. Particular attention has been paid to the design principles and stability of these dye molecules, as well as on the effects of various electrolyte systems for DSSCs. Importantly, it has been found that incorporation of a fused-thiophene unit into the sensitizer has several advantages, such as red-shift of the intramolecular charge transfer band, tuning of the frontier molecular energy level, and improvements in both photovoltaic performance and stability. This work also examines the correlation between the physical properties and placement of fused-thiophene in the molecular structure with regard to their performance in OPVs and DSSCs.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.