Dye Materials

Ruthenium Dyes

In dye-sensitized solar panels, the dye is one of the key elements for high-power transformation efficiencies. In recent years, substantial advancements were made inside engineering of book dye structures being improve the performance regarding the system. In particular, amphiphilic homologues associated with the pioneering ruthenium based N-3 dye have now been developed. These amphiphilic dyes show several benefits when compared to N-3 dye particularly:

1. a higher ground state pKa associated with the binding moiety thus increasing electrostatic binding on the TiO2 area at reduced pH values,
2. the reduced cost regarding dye attenuating the electrostatic repulsion in the middle adsorbed dye units and thereby enhancing the dye running,
3. increasing the security of solar cells towards water-induced dye desorption,
4. the oxidation potential of the complexes is cathodically moved when compared with that of the N-3 sensitizer, which advances the reversibility of the ruthenium III/Iwe few, causing improved security.

N-3
C26H16N6O8RuS2
Mol Wt: 705.64

N-719
C58H86N8O8RuS2
Mol Wt: 1188.55

Z-907
C42H52N6O4RuS2
Mol Wt: 870.10

Figure 2. Ruthenium-based N-3, N-719 and Z-907 dyes.

Table 1: Dyesol® dyes provided by Sigma-Aldrich components Science.