A ruthenium complex as a single-component redox shuttle for electrochemical photovoltaics

Abstract

A primitive version of a ruthenium complex [Ru(bpy)<inf>3</inf>2+] was employed for the first time as a new conceptual "single-component redox shuttle" for dye-sensitized solar cells. This single shuttle led to a large enhancement of the open-circuit photovoltage (V<inf>OC</inf>) to ∼940 mV relative to that of conventional iodine-based shuttle and greatly increased the efficiency of the solar-to-electric energy conversion at lower illumination levels by a factor of ca. 5.6. © The Royal Society of Chemistry.