Synthesis, characterization and evaluation of new alternative ruthenium complex for dye sensitized solar cells

Abstract

For first time, new innovative ruthenium N3-Dye anchored with selenium (Se) and N3 dye anchored with sulphur atoms were synthesized in a good yield. Dyes are applied and evaluated in performance of dye sensitized solar cell. N3-Se dye showed superior photochemical& electrochemical behavior and high rate electron transfer across anode surface than N3-S dye. The better optical and electrochemical activities would make Se-dye a candidate for applications in solar cells. Half life time of N3-S showed a single exponential decay with an average lifetime of 0.8 ns. For N3-Se dye, decay curve was fitted by sum two exponential functions with 75% and 25% counts have 2.5 ns and 30 ns respectively. Solar cells were fabricated and analyzed to determine their solar-to-electric conversion efficiency under standard AM 1.5 sunlight. Commercial N3 dyes showed current density (J_sc) of 17.813 mA cm^-2, open circuit potential (V_oc) of 0.678 V, filling factor (FF) of 0.607 and conversion efficiencies (η) of 7.3%. Corresponding values for N3-S dye, Jsc 11.2 mA cm^-2, V_oc 0.650 V, FF 0.681 and η 5%. Se-N3 dye, showed J_sc = 6.670 mA cm^-2, V_oc = 0.6004 V, FF = 0.77 and η = 3.09%. Long lifetime of N3-Se caused low practical performance.