Abstracts Book - IMRC 2018

• SC4-P126
PIPERIDINE-SUBSTITUTED PERYLENE-MONOANHYDRIDE
DERIVATIVES AS MOLECULAR ABSORBERS IN ZnO-BASED DYE-
SENSITIZED SOLAR CELLS
Esdras Josue Canto Aguilar 1 , David Gutiérrez Moreno 2 , Angela Sastre 2 , Fernando Fernández
Lázaro 2 , Shogo Mori 3 , Gerko Oskam 1
1
CINVESTAV-Mérida, Department of Applied Physics, Mexico. 2 Universidad Miguel Hernández
de Elche, Área de Química Orgánica, Spain. 3 Shinshu University, Division of Chemistry and
Materials, Japan.
The dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) is an interesting photoelectrochemical
system whose performance is determined by an optimization of the electrical
properties of the electron transporting layer, optical properties of the molecular
absorber as well as the kinetics and electrochemical features of the redox couple
used. DSSCs have reached efficiencies as high as 14%, achieved by the
optimization of the cell components and a better understanding of the
mechanisms of generation and loss of electrons involved in the solar cell
functioning. Based on this observation, the selection of the most promising
components (the film material, the dye and the redox couple) related with their
single properties, is the starting point in the efficiency improvement process.
ZnO remains as one of the most promising alternatives to replace TiO2 as
electron transporting material in the DSSCs; due to its higher electron mobility
(compared to TiO2), an increase in the overall efficiency of the solar device may
be achieved as a result of the better electron transport properties. However, in
contrast to TiO2, ZnO has demonstrated poor chemical stability during the
sensitization process, which is an important efficiency limiting factor in ZnObased
DSSCs. The instability is related to the "acidic" character of the groups
through which the molecule binds to the ZnO surface. Piperidine-substituted
perylene-monoanhydride derivatives not only show light absorption in a wide
range of the electromagnetic spectra as well as high molar extinction
coefficients (making them attractive molecular absorbers for this application),
but also provide an opportunity to overcome the stability issues by anchoring
the molecule to the ZnO surface through the rupture of the anhydride moiety. In
this work we analyze the suitability of a series of piperidine-substituted
perylene-monoanhydride derivatives as sensitizers in ZnO-based DSSCs in
terms of the chemical stability of the semiconductor during the sensitization
process, and photovoltaic features of the solar devices related with the optical,
energetic and kinetic characteristics of these molecules.