Dendrimer-based Nanoparticle for Dye Sensitized Solar Cells with Improved Efficiency

Abstract

Dye sensitized solar cells were fabricated with DyLight680 (DL680) dye and its corresponding europium conjugated dendrimer, DL680-Eu-G5PAMAM, to study the effect of europium on the current and voltage characteristics of the DL680 dye sensitized solar cell. The dye samples were characterized by using Absorption Spectroscopy, Emission Spectroscopy, Fluorescence lifetime and Fourier Transform Infrared measurements. Transmission electron microscopy imaging was carried out on the DL680-Eu-G5PAMAM dye and DL680-Eu-G5PAMAM dye sensitized titanium dioxide nanoparticles to analyze the size of the dye molecules and examine the interaction of the dye with titanium dioxide nanoparticles. The DL680-Eu-G5PAMAM dye sensitized solar cells demonstrated an enhanced solar-to-electric energy conversion of 0.32% under full light illumination (100 mWcm−2, AM 1.5 Global) in comparison with that of DL680 dye sensitized cells which recorded an average solar-to-electric energy conversion of only 0.19%. The improvement of the efficiency could be due to the presence of the europium that enhances the propensity of dye to absorb sunlight.

Preparation of New Glycerol-Based Dendrimers and Studies on Their Behavior toward Essential Oil Encapsulation

“… 1 − 3 Due to their multivalent and monodisperse character, dendrimers have stimulated wide interest in the field of chemistry, physics, and biology. 4 Some recent applications have been reported in the literature especially in the fields of drug delivery, 5 − 7 photodynamic therapy, 8 electronics, 9 catalysis, 10 − 12 and water purification. 13 …”

“…1−3 Due to their multivalent and monodisperse character, dendrimers have stimulated wide interest in the field of chemistry, physics, and biology. 4 Some recent applications have been reported in the literature especially in the fields of drug delivery, 5−7 photodynamic therapy, 8 electronics, 9 catalysis, 10−12 and water purification. 13 In the past few years, some glycerol-based dendrimers derived from polypropylenimine (PPI) and polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimers were developed and used in catalysis and encapsulation.…”

“…Dendrimers are macromolecules synthesized from monomers in a three-dimensional structure following divergent or convergent approaches. − Due to their multivalent and monodisperse character, dendrimers have stimulated wide interest in the field of chemistry, physics, and biology . Some recent applications have been reported in the literature especially in the fields of drug delivery, − photodynamic therapy, electronics, catalysis, − and water purification …”

Review on Efficiency Enhancement Using Natural Extract Mediated Dye‐Sensitized Solar Cell for Sustainable Photovoltaics

“…It was found that conjugated dendrimer NPs based dye has provided over 20% more efficient than without conjugation. [ 106 ] From the aforementioned discussion, one may conclude that a continuous research on dye‐sensitized solar cells (natural, and synthetic dye based) is increasing interest and more prominent improvement toward solar cell parameters may achieve in the future and consequently, DSSC will gain more attention in the renewable energy sector.…”

Photophysical Studies of Ruthenium-Based Complexes and the Performance of Nanostructured TiO2 Based Dye Sensitized Solar Cells

“…The electrodes were prepared according to a previously published procedure with some modifications [27][28][29][30]. The working electrode was prepared by depositing a thin film of TiO 2 on the conductive side of a fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) glass slide using a spin coater and the film annealed at 380 °C for 2 hours.…”