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Melt-infiltration of spiro-OMeTAD and thermal instability of solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells

Bailie, Colin D. ; Unger, Eva L. LU ; Zakeeruddin, Shaik M. ; Grätzel, Michael and McGehee, Michael D. (2014) In Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics 16(10). p.4864-4870
Abstract

A method for achieving complete pore-filling in solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells termed melt-infiltration is presented: after the customary solution-processed deposition of spiro-OMeTAD, the device is heated above the glass transition temperature of spiro-OMeTAD to soften the material and allow capillary action to pull additional spiro-OMeTAD from the overlayer reservoir into the pores. The pore-filling fraction increases from 60-65% to 90-100% as a result of melt-infiltration. The organic D-π-A dye used in this study is found to withstand the thermal treatment without performance loss, unlike ruthenium-based dyes. Through our experiments, we find that the 4-tert-butylpyridine (tBP) additive, commonly used in... (More)

A method for achieving complete pore-filling in solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells termed melt-infiltration is presented: after the customary solution-processed deposition of spiro-OMeTAD, the device is heated above the glass transition temperature of spiro-OMeTAD to soften the material and allow capillary action to pull additional spiro-OMeTAD from the overlayer reservoir into the pores. The pore-filling fraction increases from 60-65% to 90-100% as a result of melt-infiltration. The organic D-π-A dye used in this study is found to withstand the thermal treatment without performance loss, unlike ruthenium-based dyes. Through our experiments, we find that the 4-tert-butylpyridine (tBP) additive, commonly used in dye-sensitized solar cells, evaporates from the device during heat treatment at temperatures as low as 85 °C. This significantly impacts device performance, potentially excluding its use in commercial applications, and demonstrates the need for a more thermally stable tBP alternative. Melt-infiltration is expected to be a viable method for achieving complete pore-filling in systems where volatile additives are not required for operation.

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publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics
volume
16
issue
10
pages
7 pages
publisher
Royal Society of Chemistry
external identifiers
  • scopus:84894180788
ISSN
1463-9076
DOI
10.1039/c4cp00116h
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
5deecf9d-b22b-41ce-b80a-b39272d6ff30
date added to LUP
2021-01-23 12:30:00
date last changed
2025-10-14 11:50:39
@article{5deecf9d-b22b-41ce-b80a-b39272d6ff30,
  abstract     = {{<p>A method for achieving complete pore-filling in solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells termed melt-infiltration is presented: after the customary solution-processed deposition of spiro-OMeTAD, the device is heated above the glass transition temperature of spiro-OMeTAD to soften the material and allow capillary action to pull additional spiro-OMeTAD from the overlayer reservoir into the pores. The pore-filling fraction increases from 60-65% to 90-100% as a result of melt-infiltration. The organic D-π-A dye used in this study is found to withstand the thermal treatment without performance loss, unlike ruthenium-based dyes. Through our experiments, we find that the 4-<i>tert</i>-butylpyridine (<i>t</i>BP) additive, commonly used in dye-sensitized solar cells, evaporates from the device during heat treatment at temperatures as low as 85 °C. This significantly impacts device performance, potentially excluding its use in commercial applications, and demonstrates the need for a more thermally stable <i>t</i>BP alternative. Melt-infiltration is expected to be a viable method for achieving complete pore-filling in systems where volatile additives are not required for operation.</p>}},
  author       = {{Bailie, Colin D. and Unger, Eva L. and Zakeeruddin, Shaik M. and Grätzel, Michael and McGehee, Michael D.}},
  issn         = {{1463-9076}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{10}},
  pages        = {{4864--4870}},
  publisher    = {{Royal Society of Chemistry}},
  series       = {{Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics}},
  title        = {{Melt-infiltration of spiro-OMeTAD and thermal instability of solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/c4cp00116h}},
  doi          = {{10.1039/c4cp00116h}},
  volume       = {{16}},
  year         = {{2014}},
}