The dye-sensitised solar cell is an extremely promising device that offers the possibility of cheap and efficient photovoltaics. These cells involve a dye that absorbs visible light and injects an electron into the conduction band of an inorganic semiconductor such as TiO2. The oxidised dye is re-reduced by an electrolyte giving the required separation of the electron and the hole (Fig. 1, Fig. 2). We are involved in the design, synthesis and characterisation of dyes with the appropriate spectroscopic and electrochemical properties to function in such cells. Work is currently aimed at the preparation of new dyes to allow construction of solar cells with better light-harvesting efficiency and stability. Dyes are characterised using electrochemistry, spectroelectrochemistry, absorption and emission spectroscopy, structural and computational methods. We prepare and study solar cells to test our dyes and collaborate through the EPRSC Supergen Consortium with a number of other UK groups for more detailed solar cell characterisation.
