Application of Poly(3-hexylthiophene) functionalized with an anchoring group in dye-sensitized solar cells

Abstract

A series of three poly(3-hexylthiophene) functionalized either with a cyanoacetic acid (CA) or a rhodanine-3-acetic acid anchoring groups were synthesized and characterized. The TiO2 based dye-sensitized solar cells have been fabricated and performances were tested. We show that shorter chain length (15 thiophene units) linked to CA binding group gives good performances as Jsc, Voc, FF and η(%) were 6.93(mA · cm-2), 0.65(V), 0.67 and 3.02%, respectively. A maximum IPCE of ∼ 50% at 500 nm was recorded with a liquid electrolyte, under AM 1.5 simulated solar irradiance. This study highlights the great potential of simple polymers as sensitizer for dye-sensitized solar cells once they are functionalized by a suitable anchoring group. © 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.