Dye-sensitized solar cells are a good system for experimental physical chemists at PUIs to investigate due to their relatively low cost. Furthermore, their simple construction provides the opportunity for undergraduate students to be incorporated into the research process. Studies of dye-sensitized solar cells constructed from TiO2 films sensitized with the anthocyanin dye from raspberries can provide insight into interfacial electron transfer and electron diffusion processes. In these studies a potentiostat is used to collect the time-dependent photocurrent of working devices. Since lithium can intercalate into the TiO2 crystal lattice structure and lower the energetics of the acceptor states of the TiO2, our studies compare and contrast the effect of lithium perchlorate within the electrolyte solution on the time-dependent photocurrent. Intermittent light studies where the light is cycled on and off for varying lengths of time were done to investigate the decay of current when the light was turned off and the growth of the current when the light was turned on. These decays and growths were fit with a biexponential decay and growth model respectively. There are significant differences in our best fit values for devices that contain the lithium additive compared to those that do not. Also, a hysteresis is observed that depends on the length of time the device is under illumination. We relate these observations to the hopping mechanism of electron diffusion and the differences caused by the presence of the lithium additive and illumination to the energetic exponential distribution of the sub-bandgap acceptor states of the TiO2.

Characterizing the time-dependent photocurrent of dye-sensitized solar cells

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

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ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.