Dye regeneration kinetics in dye-sensitized solar cells.

The ideal driving force for dye regeneration is an important parameter for the design of efficient dye-sensitized solar cells. Here, nanosecond laser transient absorption spectroscopy was used to measure the rates of regeneration of six organic carbazole-based dyes by nine ferrocene derivatives whose redox potentials vary by 0.85 V, resulting in 54 different driving-force conditions. It was found that the reaction follows the behavior expected for the Marcus normal region for driving forces below 29 kJ mol(-1) (ΔE = 0.30 V). Driving forces of 29-101 kJ mol(-1) (ΔE = 0.30-1.05 V) resulted in similar reaction rates, indicating that dye regeneration is diffusion controlled. Quantitative dye regeneration (theoretical regeneration yield 99.9%) can be achieved with a driving force of 20-25 kJ mol(-1) (ΔE ≈ 0.20-0.25 V).