Liisa J. Antila

Kinetic evidence of two pathways for charge recombination in NiO-based dye-sensitized solar cells

Mesoporous nickel oxide has been used as electrode material for p-type dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) for many years but no high efficiency cells have yet been obtained. One of the main issues that lowers the efficiency is the poor fill factor, for which a clear reason is still missing. In this paper we present the first evidence for a relation between applied potential and the charge recombination rate of the NiO electrode. In particular, we find biphasic recombination kinetics: a fast (15 ns) pathway attributed to the reaction with the holes in the valence band and a slow (1 ms) pathway assigned to the holes in the trap states. The fast component is the most relevant at positive potentials, while the slow component becomes more important at negative potentials. This means that at the working condition of the cell, the fast recombination is the most important. This could explain the low fill factor of NiO-based DSCs.

Time-Resolved IR Spectroscopy Reveals a Mechanism with TiO2 as a Reversible Electron Acceptor in a TiO2–Re Catalyst System for CO2 Photoreduction

Attaching the phosphonated molecular catalyst [ReIBr(bpy)(CO)3]0 to the wide-bandgap semiconductor TiO2 strongly enhances the rate of visible-light-driven reduction of CO2 to CO in dimethylformamide with triethanolamine (TEOA) as sacrificial electron donor. Herein, we show by transient mid-IR spectroscopy that the mechanism of catalyst photoreduction is initiated by ultrafast electron injection into TiO2, followed by rapid (ps-ns) and sequential two-electron oxidation of TEOA that is coordinated to the Re center. The injected electrons can be stored in the conduction band of TiO2 on an ms-s time scale, and we propose that they lead to further reduction of the Re catalyst and completion of the catalytic cycle. Thus, the excited Re catalyst gives away one electron and would eventually get three electrons back. The function of an electron reservoir would represent a role for TiO2 in photocatalytic CO2 reduction that has previously not been considered. We propose that the increase in photocatalytic activity upon heterogenization of the catalyst to TiO2 is due to the slow charge recombination and the high oxidative power of the ReII species after electron injection as compared to the excited MLCT state of the unbound Re catalyst or when immobilized on ZrO2, which results in a more efficient reaction with TEOA.

Facile synthesis of a hole transporting material with a silafluorene core for efficient mesoscopic CH3NH3PbI3 perovskite solar cells

A novel electron-rich small-molecule, 4,4′-(5,5-dihexyl-5H-dibenzo[b,d]silole-3,7-diyl)bis(N,N-bis(4-methoxyphenyl)aniline) (S101), containing silafluorene as the core with arylamine side groups, has been synthesized via a short efficient route. When S101 was incorporated into a CH3NH3PbI3 perovskite solar cell as a hole transporting material (HTM), a short circuit photocurrent density (Jsc) of 18.9 mA cm−2, an open circuit voltage (Voc) of 0.92 V, and a fill factor (FF) of 0.65 contributing to an overall power conversion efficiency (PCE) of ∼11% which is comparable to the PCE obtained using the current state-of-the-art HTM 2,2′,7,7′-tetrakis(N,N′-di-p-methoxyphenylamine)-9,9′-spirobifluorene (spiro-OMeTAD) (η = 12.3%) were obtained. S101 is thus a promising HTM with the potential to replace the expensive spiro-OMeTAD due to its comparable performance and much simpler and less expensive synthesis route.

Hunting for the elusive shallow traps in TiO2 anatase

Understanding electron mobility on TiO2 is crucial because of its applications in photocatalysis and solar cells. This work shows that shallow traps believed to be involved in electron migration in TiO2 conduction band are formed upon band gap excitation, i.e., are not pre-existing states. The shallow traps in TiO2 results from large polarons and are not restricted to surface.

Time-Resolved IR Spectroscopy Reveals a Mechanism with TiO2 as a Reversible Electron Acceptor in a TiO2 - Re Catalyst CO2 Photoreduction System

Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, Swedish Energy Agency, Swedish Research Council, Austrian Christian Doppler Research Association, OMV Group