SAIP2017

COMPUTATIONAL STUDY OF ELECTRONIC AND OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF THE CROCONATES DYE MOLECULES FOR APPLICATION IN DYE SENSITIZED SOLAR CELLS.

4 Jul 2017, 17:10

1h 50m

3rd and 4th floor passages (Engineering Building 51)

Board: 57

Poster Presentation Track F - Applied Physics Poster Session 1

Speaker

Mr Tshifhiwa Steve Ranwaha (University of Venda)

Description

Currently the dye sensitised solar cells have attracted more attention due to its low cost, transparency and flexibility. These types of solar cells uses the dye molecules adsorbed on the TiO₂ semiconductor in their architecture with the role of absorbing photon from the sun. The electronic structure and excitation properties of dye sensitizer determine the efficiency of the dye sensitised solar cell. The sensitizer absorbs the photon from the sun and then inject an electron on the TiO₂ semiconductor. In the current work the DFT calculations were employed to study the geometric, electronic and optical properties of two croconate dye molecules. The calculations are based on conjugate length, charge transfer distance and absorption bands. The analysis of the excited state properties and free energy changes for electron injection support that the croconates dye molecules can improve the efficiency of DSSCs as they can absorb on the near infrared, which increase the absorption range on the solar spectrum. The increase of absorption towards the infrared gives more probability of high photon absorption and electron transport on the large band gab TiO₂. Keywords: Dye Sensitized Solar Cells, Dye, Croconate, Efficiency

Level for award<br>&nbsp;(Hons, MSc, <br> &nbsp; PhD, N/A)?

MSc

Apply to be<br> considered for a student <br> &nbsp; award (Yes / No)?

Yes

Would you like to <br> submit a short paper <br> for the Conference <br> Proceedings (Yes / No)?

Yes