High-Efficiency Forster Resonance Energy Transfer in Solid-State Dye Sensitized Solar Cells

Solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells (SS-DSCs) offer the potential to make low cost solar power a reality, however their photoconversion efficiency must first be increased The dyes used are commonly narrow band with high absorption coefficients, while conventional photovoltaic operation requires proper band edge alignment significantly limiting the dyes and charge transporting materials that can be used in combination We demonstrate a significant enhancement in the light harvesting and photocurrent generation of SS-DSCs due to Forster resonance energy transfer (FRET) TiO2 nanotube array films are sensitized with red/near IR absorbing SQ-1 acceptor dye, subsequently intercalated with Spiro-OMeTAD blended with a visible light absorbing DCM-pyran donor dye The calculated Forster radius is 61 nm The donor molecules contribute a FRET-based maximum IPCE of 2 5 % with a corresponding excitation transfer efficiency of approximately 67 5%