Dye-sensitised solar cells based on metal complexes with pendant catecholate anchoring groups

强烈吸收光的金属配合物可用作太阳能电池的基础。通过将这些金属络合物附着到半导体如二氧化钛的表面，光可以转化为电;由每个分子吸收的光的能量导致电子注入到半导体中，这导致电流流动。这些的有效性取决于几个因素，特别是（i）分子与TiO 2表面结合的强度，和（ii）防止反向电子转移，其中注入的电子与染料分子复合而不是产生电流。该项目旨在解决这两个领域。我们已经表明，邻苯二酚（1，2-二羟基苯）基团连接到外围的金属配合物附着到TiO 2表面异常强烈，我们计划沿着这些线制造更多的配合物，以研究它们作为太阳能电池敏化剂（电流发生器）的性能。通过在配合物的外围连接胺基，胺基将（快速）提供电子以填充电荷注入后留下的差距，从而防止从TiO 2到金属配合物的反向电子转移，我们将解决不希望的反向电子转移的问题。我们将沿着这些路线制备几种新的配合物，对其物理和电化学性质进行详细的研究，然后确定它们在原型太阳能电池设备中的表现如何。人们希望，新的配合物将提供更好的长期性能比现有的系统，因为它们非常紧密的结合到二氧化钛表面。

Metal complexes which absorb light strongly can be used as the basis of solar cells. By attachment of these metal complexes to the surface of a semiconductor such as titanium dioxide, light can be convertedsto electricity; the energy of the light absorbed by each molecule results in injection of an electron into the semiconductor which results in a current flow.The effectiveness of these depends on several factors, especially (i) how strongly the molecules bind to the TiO2 surface, and (ii) prevention of back electron-transfer, where the injected electron recombines with the dye molecule rather than generating an electric current. This project aims to address both of these areas. We have already shown that metal complexes with a catechol (1,2-dihydroxybenzene) group attached to the periphery attach exceptoinally strongly to the TiO2 surface, and we plan to make additional complexes along these lines to investogate their performance as sensitisers (generators of electric current) in solar cells. The problem of undesired back electron-transfer will be addressed by also attaching amine groups to the periphery of the complexes, which will (quickly) donate an electron to fill the gap left after charge injection, thereby preventing back electron-tramsfer from the TiO2 to the metal complex.We will prepare several new complexes along these lines, carry out a detailed study of their photophysical and electrochemical properties, and then determine how well they perform in prototypical solar cell devices. It is hoped that the new complexes will provide better long-term performance than existing systems because of their very tight binding to the TiO2 surface.