Effect of the TiO2 Anchoring of a Hydrophobic Ionic Liquid in a Fully Aqueous DSSC

This article describes the effect on the efficiency of a fully aqueous dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) after the anchoring of the hydrophobic and halogen-free ionic liquid (IL) trioctylmethyl ammonium dodecanedioate (DTMA) on its titanium oxide (TiO
₂
) photo-anode surface. In comparison with nontreated DTMA DSSCs, efficiency increments of 137% and 176% were observed when azo dye Red Reactive 2 and N3 dye were employed as sensitizers, respectively. Since V
_OC
and I
_SC
were increased, it was concluded that DTMA reinforced the dye-TiO
₂
anchoring, shifted negatively the levels of photo-anode conduction bands, improved electron injection, and reduced recombination losses.