Iron complex redox system as a mediator for a dye-sensitized solar cell

Photoelectric parameters of a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) based on nanocrystalline titania with an adsorbed commercial sensitizer Ruthenizer 505 and a redox system based on the [FeL2] · 2Otf complex (where L = 4′-(4-bipyridyl)-2,2′:6′,2″-tert-pyridine and Otf− =CF3SO3−) as the mediator are studied. When illuminated with a power of 100 mW/cm2, the DSSC voltage with the mediator under study and the iodide/triiodide redox pair have close values of 470 and 480 mV, respectively. The current-voltage characteristics of the DSSC with the iron complex mediator are far lower than for the iodide/triiodide redox pair. Our data indicate the slower reduction kinetics of the oxidized sensitizer species for the iron complex. The reason for this may be associated with the shift of the redox potential toward positive values in going from the iodide/triiodide redox pair to the iron complex, and thereby a reduced driving force for the reduction of the oxidized sensitizer species. We also cannot rule out that the DSSC characteristics are affected by the reduction on the photoanode of the oxidized mediator species as a result of the high reversibility of the iron complex mediator redox system.