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Researchers at IIT Roorkee, in collaboration with CSIR-NCL Pune, developed organic dyes that can increase the effectiveness of dye sensitive dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs).
The team of researchers led by Mr. M. Sankar, Associate Professor, The Department of Chemistry of IIT Roorkee is employed to improve the efficiency of photovoltaic conversion of a dye organic called porphyrin for DSSC applications.
Their latest research findings were published in an ACS (Applied Energy) journal of the American Chemical Society (ACS). Materials.
Solar cell technologies belong to three generations; the first and second generations comprise photovoltaic cells using inorganic semiconductor materials such as monocrystalline silicon (generation I) and thin film and silicon semiconductors as well as the CdSe type (generation II).
Inorganic semiconductors of both generations continue to be expensive and cost-defying
The third generation, which is in the research stage, includes dye-sensitized solar cells, or DSSCs, that use a combination of inexpensive organic dyes and titanium dioxide nanoparticles to convert light into electricity.
the cost of DSSC technology is much lower than that of previous generations of photovoltaic energy and their conversion efficiency is also very low, which requires further research on the dyes used in such cells.
Porphyrin is a complex organic molecule that is the building block of chlorophyll. A key chemical that allows plants to harvest the light energy needed for photosynthesis.
The first study on the use of porphyrins in DSSC dates back to 1993. This, porphyrin containing copper, resulted in power conversion efficiencies of 2.6%, too low for practical applications.
Since then, various modifications of porphyrin have been studied for use in DSSC systems. Porphyrins containing zinc have been found promising and the research team at IIT Roorkee uses this type of porphyrin for its studies.
One way to improve the effectiveness of the dye is to add pendants or molecular groups to it, which can result in a "push-pull" architecture that involves the shuttle of electrons released into the molecule.
Such push-pull mechanisms also improve the absorption of light in the red and infrared regions, thereby increasing the dye efficiency in photo-electric.
For dye molecules such as porphyrin, these functional groups are introduced through reactions involving many complex steps and requiring expensive catalysts based on palladium and platinum. The compounds obtained by these reactions have a low efficiency.
Dr. Sankar and his research team have developed a process for producing functionalized porphyrins without the use of platinum and palladium catalysts.
"Our ongoing efforts to develop simple, effective, stable and cost-effective sensitizers with fewer synthetic steps have resulted in: five Zn (II) porphyrin complexes with power conversion efficiencies ranging from 5, 3% to 7.1%, "says Dr. Sankar
" We have also shown the scalability of the synthetic approach, "he adds, on the benefit of the method
Researchers used functional density theory (DFT) calculations to understand the distribution of electron density in boundary molecular orbitals (FMOs) and for geometry optimization.
They studied the photoelectric properties of dyes using standard methods. such as optical and fluorescence spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, impedance spectroscopy and PV measurements, all of which showed improved dye performance. [19659002] Extensive research around the world to improve the efficiency of DSSC's light-energy conversion has made it a credible competitor of first- and second-generation solar cells.
This collaborative work of IIT Roorkee and CSIR-NCL addresses the enhancement of sensitizers for DSSC could lead to dyes with higher conversion efficiency, which could lead to better DSSCs and less expensive than it is possible today.
The research team includes Ravi, Kamal and Dr. Sankar from IIT Roorkee and Sudhakar. Dr. Krishnamoorthy of CSIR-NCL, Pune.
About IIT Roorkee (https://www.iitr.ac.in/)[19659023FAIRED'IRIGEestuninstitutd'importancenationalequidispenseunenseignementsupérieureningénieriesciencesgestionarchitectureetplanificationetscienceshumainesetsocialesDepuissacréationen1847l'Institutajouéunrôlevitalenfournissantdupersonneltechniqueetdusavoir-faireaupaysDansleclbadement2018duTimesHigherEducationUniversityl'institutaétéclbadé3èmeparmilesIITtandisquelecritèredecitationsl'aclbadéau1errangparmitouslesinstitutsenIndeIlaétéconvertiàl'UniversitédeRoorkeeen1949etàl'IITRoorkeeen2001
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