The Development of Ferrocene and Vinyl Pyridine Containing Triphenylamine-based Dyes for Integrated Light Harvesting Devices Involving Dye-sensitized Solar Cell Technology

Abstract

<p>As new solar cell technologies are developed, their adoption would likely be enhanced through novel applications. To this end, this thesis explores the development of two new types of organic dyes for integrated devices that incorporate dye sensitized solar cell (DSSC) technology; notably, smart windows and motion sensing. DSSCs have the advantage over other solar technologies in that they are optically transparent and can be implemented into various design concepts including bifacial windows or coatings. Because the powerhouse of the DSSC is molecular in nature, they also function in diffuse light, which means they can be employed in technologies thatcould be used in any lightcondition. Furthermore, the dye is the sensitizer and can be tuned further for the desired application. To this end, this thesis examines the development of two different dye families for two different applications. After a brief and generic introduction in Chapter 1, Chapter 2 visits the idea of using ferrocene (Fc) as an additional redox-active donor component to the organic dye. Fc is known for its redox robustness, and the goal to have this functionality added is to enhance the stability of the photo-oxidized dye, such that these dyes and corresponding DSSC devices could be employed in integrated devices, such as smart supercapacitor windows. After examining the structure-property relationships of this dye family, very poor efficiencies will prevent their deployment, and this will be fully articulated in Chapter 2. Chapter 3 explores the potential of appending vinyl pyridinium electron withdrawing groups in the dye architecture (analogous to the Fc-derivatives of Chapter 2). Ultimately, the goal of this chapter was to examine structure-property relationships where DSSC devices could be transformed into motion-sensing windows. In theory, this would be achieved by the development of shunt-like dyes, where specific wavelengths would decrease the performance when absorbing diffuse, long wavelengths of light. Unfortunately, synthetic limitations prevented the completion of the target dyes, but dye precursors are examined for their potential in this application. Owing to the uniqueness of each application, Chapters 2 and 3 have an extensive introduction. Further context can be found at the end of each chapter with conclusions and future work.</p>