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 TiO 2 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 J sc, V oc, 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.