Influence of alkylaminopyridine additives in electrolytes on dye-sensitized solar cell performance

The influence of alkylaminopyridine additives on the performance of a bis(tetrabutylammonium)cis-bis(thiocyanato)bis(2,2′-bipyridine-4-carboxylic acid, 4′-carboxylate)ruthenium(II) dye-sensitized TiO2 solar cell with an I−/I3− redox electrolyte in acetonitrile was studied. The current–voltage characteristics were measured for more than 20 different alkylaminopyridines under AM 1.5 (100 mW/cm2). The alkylaminopyridine additives tested had varying effects on the performance of the cell. All the additives decreased the short circuit photocurrent density (Jsc), but increased the open-circuit photovoltage (Voc) of the solar cell. Molecular orbital calculations imply that the dipole moment of the alkylaminopyridine molecules influences the Jsc of the cell and that the size, solvent accessible surface area, and ionization energy all affect the Voc of the cell. The highest Voc of 0.88 V was observed in an electrolyte containing 4-pyrrolidinopyridine, which is comparable to the maximum Voc of 0.9 V for a cell consisting of TiO2 electrode and I−/I3− redox system.