Enhanced solar light harvesting and charge transport in dye-sensitized solar cells
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Oxford
Department Name: Oxford Physics
Abstract
Dye-sensitized solar cells are moderately efficient with verified solar-to-electrical power conversion efficiencies of over 12% reported. However, even in the state-of-the-art systems only a fraction of the incident sun light is absorbed, implying substantial scope for improvement. Here we develop both state-of-the-art liquid electrolyte based DSCs and contemporary solid-state hybrid DSCs with the target being to considerably enhance the light capture and adsorption in these devices and also significantly improve the charge transport characteristics. Routes to both improve the photonic structure of the solar cells, create improved semiconducting oxide electrodes for enhanced charge transport and collection and develop and optimise new sensitizers for these systems shall be undertaken.
People |
ORCID iD |
Henry Snaith (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Foster J
(2014)
A Model for the Operation of Perovskite Based Hybrid Solar Cells: Formulation, Analysis, and Comparison to Experiment
in SIAM Journal on Applied Mathematics
Ball J
(2012)
A panchromatic anthracene-fused porphyrin sensitizer for dye-sensitized solar cells
in RSC Advances
Abate A
(2014)
An Organic "Donor-Free" Dye with Enhanced Open-Circuit Voltage in Solid-State Sensitized Solar Cells
in Advanced Energy Materials
Snaith HJ
(2014)
Anomalous Hysteresis in Perovskite Solar Cells.
in The journal of physical chemistry letters
Filip MR
(2016)
Band Gaps of the Lead-Free Halide Double Perovskites Cs2BiAgCl6 and Cs2BiAgBr6 from Theory and Experiment.
in The journal of physical chemistry letters
Sutton R
(2016)
Bandgap-Tunable Cesium Lead Halide Perovskites with High Thermal Stability for Efficient Solar Cells
in Advanced Energy Materials
Crossland EJ
(2009)
Block copolymer morphologies in dye-sensitized solar cells: probing the photovoltaic structure-function relation.
in Nano letters
Grancini G
(2012)
Boosting Infrared Light Harvesting by Molecular Functionalization of Metal Oxide/Polymer Interfaces in Efficient Hybrid Solar Cells
in Advanced Functional Materials
Wehrenfennig C
(2014)
Charge carrier recombination channels in the low-temperature phase of organic-inorganic lead halide perovskite thin films
in APL Materials
Paulke A
(2016)
Charge carrier recombination dynamics in perovskite and polymer solar cells
in Applied Physics Letters
Leijtens T
(2013)
Charge density dependent mobility of organic hole-transporters and mesoporous TiO2 determined by transient mobility spectroscopy: implications to dye-sensitized and organic solar cells.
in Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.)
Snaith H
(2009)
Charge Generation and Photovoltaic Operation of Solid-State Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells Incorporating a High Extinction Coefficient Indolene-Based Sensitizer
in Advanced Functional Materials
Zhang Y
(2015)
Charge selective contacts, mobile ions and anomalous hysteresis in organic-inorganic perovskite solar cells
in Materials Horizons
Rehman W
(2015)
Charge-Carrier Dynamics and Mobilities in Formamidinium Lead Mixed-Halide Perovskites.
in Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.)
Wehrenfennig C
(2014)
Charge-carrier dynamics in vapour-deposited films of the organolead halide perovskite CH 3 NH 3 PbI 3-x Cl x
in Energy Environ. Sci.
Docampo P
(2010)
Control of Solid-State Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell Performance by Block-Copolymer-Directed TiO 2 Synthesis
in Advanced Functional Materials
Weisspfennig C
(2013)
Dependence of Dye Regeneration and Charge Collection on the Pore-Filling Fraction in Solid-State Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells
in Advanced Functional Materials
Galkowski K
(2016)
Determination of the exciton binding energy and effective masses for methylammonium and formamidinium lead tri-halide perovskite semiconductors
in Energy & Environmental Science
Planells M
(2013)
Diacetylene bridged triphenylamines as hole transport materials for solid state dye sensitized solar cells
in Journal of Materials Chemistry A
Moia D
(2015)
Dye monolayers used as the hole transporting medium in dye-sensitized solar cells.
in Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.)
Parrott E
(2016)
Effect of Structural Phase Transition on Charge-Carrier Lifetimes and Defects in CH 3 NH 3 SnI 3 Perovskite
in The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters
Docampo P
(2013)
Efficient organometal trihalide perovskite planar-heterojunction solar cells on flexible polymer substrates.
in Nature communications
Eperon GE
(2015)
Efficient, Semitransparent Neutral-Colored Solar Cells Based on Microstructured Formamidinium Lead Trihalide Perovskite.
in The journal of physical chemistry letters
Wright AD
(2016)
Electron-phonon coupling in hybrid lead halide perovskites.
in Nature communications
Huang C
(2016)
Engineering the Membrane/Electrode Interface To Improve the Performance of Solid-State Supercapacitors.
in ACS applied materials & interfaces
Roose B
(2015)
Enhanced Efficiency and Stability of Perovskite Solar Cells Through Nd-Doping of Mesostructured TiO 2
in Advanced Energy Materials
Sadoughi G
(2013)
Enhanced electronic contacts in SnO2-dye-P3HT based solid state dye sensitized solar cells.
in Physical chemistry chemical physics : PCCP
Zhang W
(2013)
Enhancement of perovskite-based solar cells employing core-shell metal nanoparticles.
in Nano letters
Snaith H
(2009)
Estimating the Maximum Attainable Efficiency in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells
in Advanced Functional Materials
D'Innocenzo V
(2014)
Excitons versus free charges in organo-lead tri-halide perovskites.
in Nature communications
Abrusci A
(2011)
Facile infiltration of semiconducting polymer into mesoporous electrodes for hybrid solar cells
in Energy & Environmental Science
Agrawal Saurabh
(2013)
First principle approach to study role of ionic additives in the solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells
in ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY
Eperon G
(2014)
Formamidinium lead trihalide: a broadly tunable perovskite for efficient planar heterojunction solar cells
in Energy & Environmental Science
Zhao L
(2016)
High-Performance Inverted Planar Heterojunction Perovskite Solar Cells Based on Lead Acetate Precursor with Efficiency Exceeding 18%
in Advanced Functional Materials
Wehrenfennig C
(2014)
Homogeneous Emission Line Broadening in the Organo Lead Halide Perovskite CH3NH3PbI3-xClx.
in The journal of physical chemistry letters
Leijtens T
(2016)
Hydrophobic Organic Hole Transporters for Improved Moisture Resistance in Metal Halide Perovskite Solar Cells.
in ACS applied materials & interfaces
Passoni L
(2013)
Hyperbranched quasi-1D nanostructures for solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells.
in ACS nano
Guldin S
(2011)
Improved conductivity in dye-sensitised solar cells through block-copolymer confined TiO 2 crystallisation
in Energy Environ. Sci.
Abrusci A
(2011)
Influence of Ion Induced Local Coulomb Field and Polarity on Charge Generation and Efficiency in Poly(3-Hexylthiophene)-Based Solid-State Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells
in Advanced Functional Materials
Hey A
(2013)
Large area hole transporter deposition in efficient solid-state dye-sensitized solar cell mini-modules
in Journal of Applied Physics
Volonakis G
(2016)
Lead-Free Halide Double Perovskites via Heterovalent Substitution of Noble Metals.
in The journal of physical chemistry letters
Snaith H
(2011)
Lead-sulphide quantum-dot sensitization of tin oxide based hybrid solar cells
in Solar Energy
Wang JT
(2014)
Low-temperature processed electron collection layers of graphene/TiO2 nanocomposites in thin film perovskite solar cells.
in Nano letters
Nedelcu M
(2010)
Monolithic route to efficient dye-sensitized solar cells employing diblock copolymers for mesoporous TiO 2
in J. Mater. Chem.
Zhang R
(2016)
Nonlinear Optical Response of Organic-Inorganic Halide Perovskites
in ACS Photonics
Description | Discovered organic-inorganic metal halide perovskites could work exceptionally well in photovolatics. |
Exploitation Route | Triggered a massive research activity in perovskite solar cells worldwide. This is both at research institutions and industry. the direct outputs of this project have been transferred to Oxford PV and enabled them to rise to the forefront of PV development. Assuming successful delivery to a product, this technology has the potential to transform the PV industry, and subsequently the power industry. |
Sectors | Energy,Environment |
Description | Through the collaboration from this Japanese/UK award the original know how on processing perovskite materials was transferred from japan to UK. The potential transformative impact of perovskites was not realised by the Japanese collaborators, but through work in Oxford a stream of discoveries enabled the realisation of efficient perovskite solar cells which has lead to the growth of Oxford PV ltd to become a world force in emerging PV. |
First Year Of Impact | 2011 |
Sector | Chemicals,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Electronics,Energy,Environment,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology |
Impact Types | Societal,Economic |
Description | Oxford PV |
Organisation | Oxford Photovoltaics |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | We have made cells and materials and supplied them to Oxford PV for characterisation and/or further material deposition. |
Collaborator Contribution | Oxford PV have supplied some Silicon PV cells upon which to coat the perovskite cells for the all perovskite tandem cells. They have also deposited ITO conducting oxide upon our cells to complete our devices. In addition they have allowed access to other characterisation facilities including optical microscope and x-ray diffraction analysis. |
Impact | One of the main outcomes is that Oxford PV has raised in the region of £30M external investment, with the technology based on technology originally conceived in Oxford University. The company has benefited from continuing fundamental advancements of the technology, driven from our university lab. we are now working closely together on this project and will collaboratively deliver record efficiency solar cells. |
Start Year | 2016 |
Description | Various Radio Interviews |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Radio Interviews for BBC world service and news reports |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011,2012,2013,2014,2015,2016,2017 |
URL | http://www.bbc.co.uk/search?q=henry+snaith |