Modeling of the dye loading time influence on the electrical impedance of a dye-sensitized solar cell

A hemisquaraine dye molecule (CT1) was used as TiO2 sensitizer. The influence of the dye-adsorption time on the electrical impedance of a CT1-based dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC) was analyzed. Differently from what we observed with commercial Ru dye-based DSC, a non-monotonic effect of the impregnation time on the impedance has been found and the dye loading time is much reduced, a desirable outcome in economic grounds. This feature is analyzed in terms of the dye molecules tendency to aggregate close to the TiO2/electrolyte interface. A physical model that fits well the experimental data is proposed, which also takes into account a correction related to the difference between the illuminated area of the cell and the total area available in the electrical measurements.