New Approaches to More Effective Photosensitizers for TiO2-Based Solar Cells

本研究项目致力于开发一种简便、快速地制备和筛选新型二氧化钛光敏剂的方案。该技术包括逐步合成通过羧酸桥固定在半导体表面的过渡金属络合物。锚定配体、金属和辅助配体通过浸渍程序逐步结合到半导体上，允许快速筛选锚配体、金属和辅助配体的多种组合。休斯顿大学化学系的兰道夫·P·图梅尔教授因研究更有效的太阳能电池光敏剂的新方法而得到有机和高分子化学计划的支持。这种感光剂的设计和稳定性问题带来了极端的挑战，需要将太阳能电池科学和技术从实验室带到实际场地。Thummel教授正在开发一种新的方法，用于简单、快速地制备和筛选用于光伏太阳能电池的半导体二氧化钛的新型光敏剂。这种方法的优点是不需要分离或纯化任何目标络合物或中间体，并且只需要少量(1 Mg)的材料进行初始分析。

This research project focuses on the development of a protocol for the simple and rapid preparation and screening of new photosensitizers for titanium dioxide. The technique involves the stepwise synthesis of transition metal complexes anchored to semiconductor surfaces by carboxylate bridges. The anchoring ligand, metal, and auxiliary ligands are incorporated on the semiconductor in a stepwise fashion using a dipping procedure, allowing the rapid screening of many combinations of anchor ligand, metal, and auxiliary ligand.Professor Randolph P. Thummel, of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Houston, is supported by the Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry Program for his studies of new approaches to more effective photosensitizers for solar cells. Such sensitizers, for which design and stability issues offer extreme challenges, are required to take solar cell science and technology from the laboratory to the practical venue. Professor Thummel is developing a new approach for the simple and and rapid preparation and screening of new photosensitizers for titanium dioxide, a semiconductor used in photovoltaic solar cells. This method enjoys the advantage of not requiring the isolation or purification of any of the target complexes or intermediates, and only small amounts ( 1mg) of material are needed for the initial analysis.