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Photovoltaic properties of merocyanine solid-state photocells

Abstract

Considerable progress has been made in improving the sunlight conversion efficiency of solid-state organic photovoltaic cells. Ghosh et al.1 report a 0.7% efficiency for a merocyanine dye Schottky barrier cell. We expect that improvements in energy conversion efficiency may follow if merocyanines of low ionization potential are used in photovoltaic cells, in which the dye layer contains a strongly electronegative dopant such as iodine. To test these ideas we report here the photovoltaic quantum yields and sunlight conversion efficiencies of a series of merocyanines in which the molecular properties have been varied systematically.

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Chamberlain, G., Cooney, P. & Dennison, S. Photovoltaic properties of merocyanine solid-state photocells. Nature 289, 45–47 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1038/289045a0

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