Dye⋯TiO2 Interfacial Structure of Working Electrodes in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

The transparent and low-cost nature of dye-sensitised solar cells (DSCs) affords them nicheprospects for electricity-generating windows in buildings for energy-sustainable future cities.Despite their vast industrial potential, innovation is being held up by a lack of suitable dyes. Betterdyes can only be realised if we can better understand how the dye...TiO2 interface of a workingelectrode in a DSC functions at the molecular level. To this end, we propose to study thisinterfacial structure (dye adsorption modes, interdye separation and dye/TiO2 tilt angles) of threehigh-performance DSC dyes on TiO2 surfaces in solar cell conditions, and relate this structure tothe photovoltaic properties of the associated device. The structure-function relationshipsestablished will act as molecular design rules to guide the molecular engineering of new dyes thatoffer superior DSC performance.