Cobalt Electrolyte/Dye Interactions in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells: A Combined Computational and Experimental Study

We report a combined experimental and computational investigation to understand the nature of the interactions between cobalt redox mediators and TiO2 surfaces sensitized by :ruthenium and organic dyes, and their impact on. the performance of the corresponding dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). We : focus: on different ruthenium dyes and fully organic dyes, to understand the dramatic loss of efficiency observed for the prototype Ru(II) N719 dye in conjunction with :Cobalt: electrolytes. Both N719- and Z907-based DSSCs showed an increased lifetime in iodine-based electrolyte compared to the cobalt-based redox-shuttle; While the organic D21L6 and D25L6 cycles endowed.With long alkoxy chains,…