Development of Near-IR Dyes toward the Next Generation Organic Thin-Film Solar Cells

Atsuya Muranaka

Senior Research Scientist, Elements Chemistry Laboratory, RIKEN

http://www.riken.jp/en/research/labs/chief/elem_chem/

Abstract

Organic thin-film solar cells have attracted considerable interest as the next generation solar cells. The efficiency of organic thin-film solar cells is, however, still low as compared to the other types of solar cells. This research focuses on development of low-molecular-weight near-IR absorbing compounds as a new organic p-type semiconductor for high-efficiency organic thin-film solar cells. Near-IR dyes with strong absorption in the 800-1200 nm region are designed to convert the energy of sunlight efficiently when fullerene derivatives are used as n-type semiconductors.