Nobu Iguchi
From WikidChem
Nobuhito Iguchi
Yale College 10', Chemistry Major
nobuhito.iguchi@yale.edu
[edit]Research
- Computational studies of TiO2 model surface functionalized with the siloxane, catechol, and acetylacetate linkers
The dye-sensitized solar cell is made of a dye-adsorbed TiO2 electrode, a counter electrode, and a redox species in electrolyte solution. Upon light absorption, the photo excited dye injects an electron into the TiO2 conduction band, resulting in surface charge separation and the electron carrier collection at the anode. The electron is transported to the cathode, where it reduces the redox species in solution. The cycle is competed when the oxidized dye is regenerated as the electron is transfered from the redox species. Since TiO2 semiconductor alone has a wide band gap which absorbs only high energy ultraviolet light, dyes are adsorbed on the TiO2 semiconductor surface so that the cell absorbs more of the incident visible light. The ideal dye must provide both a good absorption over the visible range and electron injection into the TiO2 conduction band, which is provided by the stability of the linker attached to the surface. In addition, strongly bonded linkers prevent recombination reactions and increase the voltage of dye-sensitized cells. In my research, the interaction of siloxane, catechol and acetylacetonate linkers with the titanium dioxide (TiO2) anatase surface is studied, using electronic structure calculations based on density functional theory (DFT). Part of my work on the siloxane linker is presented in the publication listed below.
