Dye-sensitized solar cells based on perpendicularly-oriented porphyrin monolayers obtained by electrophoretic deposition on nanocrystalline TiO_2 electrodes

摘要

A study of the photovoltaic properties and performance for dye-sensitized solar cells using mesoporphyrin IX electrophoretically deposited on nanocrystalline TiO_2 photoanodes is reported. Performance data obtained from these photovoltaic devices were compared with photocells having TiO_2 films sensitized by dip-coating deposition in absence of electric field. Global conversion efficiencies achieved for the solar cells containing porphyrins electrophoretically deposited were 4 times higher than for cells containing porphyrins deposited by dip-coating. Preliminary results suggest that conversion efficiencies for these photovoltaic devices depend from the orientation acquired by the dye monolayers on the TiO_2 surfaces.