Effect of coadsorbent properties on the photovoltaic performance of dye-sensitized solar cells.

Stearic acid as a coadsorbent, which has a low dipole moment and high solubility, retarded the rate of dye adsorption during the competitive anchoring process on the TiO(2) layer in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs), thereby increasing the content of strongly bound dye on the TiO(2) surface. This resulted in an approximately 25% improvement in both J(SC) and the power conversion efficiency of the DSCs, even for much lower dye coverage.