Zinc chlorophyll aggregates as hole transporters for biocompatible, natural-photosynthesis-inspired solar cells
Journal
Journal of Power Sources
Journal Volume
297
Pages
519-524
Date Issued
2015
Author(s)
Li, Y.
Sasaki, S.-I.
Tamiaki, H.
Liu, C.-L.
Song, J.
Tian, W.
Zheng, E.
Wei, Y.
Chen, G.
Fu, X.
Wang, X.-F.
Abstract
The intriguing properties of extremely efficient delocalization and migration of excitons in chlorophyll (Chl) J-type aggregates have inspired intense research activities toward their structural understanding, functional interpretation and mimicry synthesis. Herein, we demonstrated the J-aggregates of zinc methyl 3-devinyl-3-hydroxymethyl-pyropheophorbide a (ZnChl-1) generated by spin-coating method for the application as a hole transporter in titania-based solar cells using methyl trans-32-carboxypyropheophorbide a (H2Chl-2) or its zinc complex (ZnChl-2) as the sensitizer. The effective carrier mobility of the J-aggregates films was determined by the organic field-effect transistor to be 6.2 × 10-4 cm2 V-1 s-1. Solar cells sharing the architecture of FTO/H2Chl-2 or ZnChl-2 on TiO2/(ZnChl-1)n/Ag were fabricated and the factors that presumably determine their photovoltaic performances were discussed. The photovoltaic devices studied herein employing inexpensive and pollution-free biomaterials provide a unique solution of utilizing solar energy with a care of the important environmental issue.
Type
journal article