Russian scientists created organic dyes for solar panels

A team of scientists from the MIET's Institute of Advanced Materials and Technologies, the Institute of Organic Synthesis of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Ural Federal University, and the Institute of General Inorganic Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences synthesized organic dyes with improved properties for sensitized solar cells. With the help of IS-BTh-1 dye it was possible to achieve an efficiency of 4.41% of solar cells. This is not a record result, but it is extremely encouraging. The description of the new dyes and properties was published in the "Dyes and Pigments'' journal . The research was supported by the Russian Science Foundation.

The dyes and solar cells that scientists work with have a number of advantages. Firstly, dyes are synthesized from organic substances, which is why they are less toxic compared to metal-based counterparts. Secondly, the synthesis is simple, cheap and affordable. As the researchers explain, it allows you to vary the substituents in the structure of dyes and adjust their optical, electrochemical and electronic properties. And in general, dye-sensitized solar cells are simple devices made of inexpensive materials that require expensive equipment and technologies. Thus, the cost of producing sensitized solar cells is two times lower than silicon batteries.

Scientists are confident that the efficiency of converting sunlight with sensitized solar cells has not yet reached its limit and in the future it can be at the same level as silicon solar panels.

There are many applications for dye-sensitized solar cells. They can be used to charge gadgets or industrially in the form of translucent panels integrated on building facades. If such elements are embedded in glass, you can get a double effect of noise protection and associated power generation. In addition, it is possible to improve the decorative component with panels of different colors. Moreover, direct sunlight is not required for such panels, scattered light is enough. They can also be used to convert light from artificial sources (currently this is an extremely relevant topic in world science).

"We measured the efficiency of solar cells with our dye at temperatures from +10 °C to +55 °C. In the first case, we managed to achieve an efficiency of 5.38%, but when heated, we observed a loss of efficiency of up to 2%," says Alexander Steparuk, co-inventor and the head of the Laboratory of Advanced Organic Materials at the Institute of Organic Synthesis of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. "Me and my colleagues, Sergey Kozyukhin from the Institute of General and Inorganic Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Peter Lazarenko from the National Research University MIET, we managed to develop an installation that allows us to measure efficiency at various temperatures (from –30 to +60 ° C). We are currently dealing with the issue in order to understand the operating conditions of these elements, the causes of degradation and other important parameters."

The scientists plan to continue their work on synthesizing new dyes with specified properties, as well as testing in solar cells and studying the effectiveness in conditions of artificial light sources. They also plan to create elements with an inverted structure and to scale this technology.

Source: poisknews.ru