Eco-Friendly Aqueous Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell with a Copper(I/II) Electrolyte System: Efficient Performance under Ambient Light Conditions

Organic solvents used in electrolytes of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) are generally toxic and not environmentally safe, which renders their use, especially in indoor solar modules, difficult. In this paper, an eco-friendly DSC is presented based on an aqueous electrolyte system where the redox couple is composed of a water-soluble polypyridyl copper complex, [Cu-(I)(dc-dmbpy)(2)Cl/Cu-(II)(dc-dmbpy)(2)Cl-2, dc-dmbpy = 6,6'-dimethyl-2,2'-bipyridine-4,4'-dicarboxylate]. Good photo-conversion efficiencies (PCE % similar to 7%) have been attained with this water-soluble redox couple under ambient light conditions when coupled with a ruthenium-based dye, C106. This is the first time such a copper complex is in an aqueous DSC and eventually lays a foundation for the further development of eco-friendly water-based DSCs.

Automated summary

This paper presents an eco-friendly dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC) based on an aqueous electrolyte system, using a water-soluble polypyridyl copper complex as the redox couple. By coupling with a ruthenium-based dye, C106, a high photo-conversion efficiency of around 7% has been achieved under ambient light conditions. This opens up possibilities for the development of eco-friendly water-based DSCs.