New functional triethoxysilanes as iodide sources for dye-sensitized solar cells

Three new triethoxysilanes bearing quaternary ammonium alkyl iodides are reported, N,N,N-triethyl-3-(triethoxysilyl)propan-1-aminium iodide 1, N,N,N-triheptyl-3-(triethoxysilyl)propan-1-aminium iodide 2 and N,N,N-tridodecyl-3-(triethoxysilyl)propan-1-aminium iodide 3. 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy and electrospray mass spectrometry were used to confirm the synthesis of pure products. Electrolytes based on these ionic liquids were developed and their performance in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) evaluated. The electrolytes incorporated 1 and 2 (in 30–60 wt%) as iodide sources together with I2 (0.08 M), 0.1 M guanidinium thiocyanate and 0.5 M tert-butylpyridine in acetonitrile (AN); and I2 (0.15 M) and N-methylbenzimidazole (0.5 M) for 2-methoxyproprionitrile (MPN) as co-solvent. Testing of DSSCs to analyze the influence of chain length (ethyl and heptyl) on cell efficiency revealed that, for silanes concentration of 1 M, electrolyte B (based on 2 in AN) and electrolyte C (based on 1 in MPN) gave the best cell efficiency at simulated full sunlight (AM 1.5, 1000 W m−2) illumination (5.0–5.3%). At 0.1 Sunlight (AM 1.5, 100 W m−2), electrolyte B gave the best performance of 8.0%. High open circuit voltages (VOC) of 750–850 mV were achieved for a number of quite efficient cells (5–6%). For silane 2, variation of the I−/I2 ratio and total silane content (1–2 M 2) on DSSC efficiency gave a consistent efficiency of 8.0% at 0.1 Sunlight. At full sunlight, the cell efficiency decreased as the silane concentration increased from 1 M (5.0%) to 2 M (3.7%), largely due to a drop in short circuit current.