Honors Theses

Date of Award

Spring 5-9-2020

Document Type

Undergraduate Thesis

Department

Chemistry and Biochemistry

First Advisor

Jonah Jurss

Second Advisor

Walter Cleland

Relational Format

Dissertation/Thesis

Abstract

Given the rising global energy demands, alternative renewable energy sources are currently being investigated. The most appealing renewable energy source is solar energy, and dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) in particular are an attractive technology. DSSCs have traditionally utilized iodide/triiodide as the redox mediator couple, which exhibits high efficiencies and fast regeneration of the oxidized dye with little recombination. Recently, the use of alternative redox couples based on transition metal complexes has been studied as a promising substitute due to the tunable design of these complexes. In this study, tridentate tris(pyrazolyl)borate and tris(pyrazolyl)methane ligands with first-row transition metals were designed and synthesized to function as viable redox shuttles in DSSCs. Electrochemical studies of these complexes exhibit reversible redox couples within the desired parameters for DSSCs. The synthesized first-row transition metal tris(pyrazolyl)borate complexes demonstrate electrochemical reversibility, but lack the desired solubility in acetonitrile. Due to the minimal solubility of the Tp complexes, the study shifts focus to Tpm complexes for this DSSC application. Indeed, the [Fe(Tpm)2]3+/2+ system exhibits both electrochemical reversibility and the desired solubility in acetonitrile, making it a promising redox shuttle candidate. Future work to test the [Fe(Tpm)2]3+/2+ system in a DSSC is needed to determine the viability of this redox shuttle in a working device. Overall, this study illustrates that the synthesized iron Tpm complexes could be a viable alternative to the traditional I–/I3– electron mediator, but further testing is necessary to establish the efficiency.

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