Electrochemical Synthesis of Photovoltaic Layers of Metal Complexes of J-Aggregates of Polymethine Dyes on ITO-Glass Electrodes

Abstract

Photosensitive layers of metal complexes of anionic polymethine dyes are prepared on ITO-coated glass electrodes using an electrosynthetic route in which a thin metal film (zinc or cadmium) electrodeposited on an ITO electrode is converted electrochemically into a respective dye–metal complex. Optical absorption measurements suggest that the prepared metal complexes of dyes exist onto ITO electrodes in the form of J-aggregates. We investigate the spectral and photoelectric characteristics of these dye–metal complexes. For the dye–metal complexes prepared using the electrosynthetic route, the quantum efficiency of photoconductivity is found to be around 5–7%. Our results show that the technique for the electrosynthesis of photosensitive layers comprised of metal complexes of anionic polymethine dyes on ITO electrodes is promising for the nanotechnology fabrication of thin-film photoelectric converters.