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In-situ mapping of the molecular arrangement of amphiphilic dye molecules at the TiO2 surface of dye sensitized solar cells

Voïtchovsky, K.; Ashari Astani, N.; Tavernelli, I.; Tetreault, N.; Rothlisberger, U.; Stellacci, F.; Grätzel, M.; Arne Harms, H.

In-situ mapping of the molecular arrangement of amphiphilic dye molecules at the TiO2 surface of dye sensitized solar cells Thumbnail


Authors

N. Ashari Astani

I. Tavernelli

N. Tetreault

U. Rothlisberger

F. Stellacci

M. Grätzel

H. Arne Harms



Abstract

Amphiphilic sensitizers are central to the function of dye-sensitized solar cells. It is known that the cell’s performance depends on the molecular arrangement and the density of the dye on the semiconductor surface, but a molecular-level picture of the cell-electrolyte interface is still lacking. Here, we present sub-nanometer in-situ atomic force microscopy images of the Z907 dye at the surface of TiO2 in a relevant liquid. Our results reveal changes in the conformation and the lateral arrangement of the dye molecules, depending on their average packing density on the surface. Complementary quantitative measurements on the ensemble of the film are obtained by a quartz-crystal microbalance with dissipation technique. An atomistic picture of the dye coverage-dependent packing, the effectiveness of the hydrophobic alkyl chains as blocking layer and the solvent accessibility is obtained from molecular dynamics simulations.

Citation

Voïtchovsky, K., Ashari Astani, N., Tavernelli, I., Tetreault, N., Rothlisberger, U., Stellacci, F., …Arne Harms, H. (2015). In-situ mapping of the molecular arrangement of amphiphilic dye molecules at the TiO2 surface of dye sensitized solar cells. ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, 7(20), 10834-10842. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.5b01638

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date May 4, 2015
Online Publication Date May 15, 2015
Publication Date May 27, 2015
Deposit Date May 7, 2015
Publicly Available Date May 4, 2016
Journal ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
Print ISSN 1944-8244
Electronic ISSN 1944-8252
Publisher American Chemical Society
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 7
Issue 20
Pages 10834-10842
DOI https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.5b01638
Keywords Atomic force microscopy, Dye sensitized solar cells, Z907, Molecular dynamics simulations, Liquid phase.

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Copyright Statement
This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in ACS applied materials & interfaces, copyright © 2015 American Chemical Society after peer review and technical editing by the publisher. To access the final edited and published work see http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsami.5b01638.





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