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Updated: Jun 14, 2026

Integrating a Triplet-triplet Annihilation Up-conversion System to Enhance Dye-sensitized Solar Cell Response to Sub-bandgap Light
Published on: September 12, 2014
Efficient electron transfer and sensitizer regeneration in stable pi-extended tetrathiafulvalene-sensitized solar
Sophie Wenger1, Pierre-Antoine Bouit, Qianli Chen
1Laboratory of Photonics and Interfaces, Institute of Chemical Sciences and Engineering, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL), Station 6, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
Abstract:
The development of metal-free organic sensitizers is a key issue in dye-sensitized solar cell research. We report successful photovoltaic conversion with a new class of stable tetrathiafulvalene derivatives, showing surprising electrochemical and kinetic properties. With time-resolved spectroscopy we could observe highly efficient regeneration of the photo-oxidized tetrathiafulvalene sensitizers, which were attached to a mesoporous TiO(2) film, by a redox mediator in the pores (iodide/tri-iodide), even though the measured driving force for regeneration was only approximately 150 mV. This important proof-of-concept shows that sensitizers with a small driving force, i.e. the oxidation potential of the sensitizer is separated from the redox potenial of the mediator by as little as 150 mV, can operate functionally in dye-sensitized solar cells and eventually aid to reduce photovoltage losses due to poor energetic alignment of the materials.
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