Paste composition
A paste composition comprises a dye containing a novel oligomeric compound with improved dispersion performance. The oligomeric compound comprises a tail structure consisting of hydrophilic and hydrophobic blocks and an amine or imidazole head structure. The paste composition can be used to prepare a semiconductor electrode of a solar cell. A semiconductor electrode produced using the paste composition and a solar cell fabricated using the semiconductor electrode exhibit greatly improved power conversion efficiency and superior processability.
1. A paste composition comprising
a metal oxide powder;
a dye containing a compound represented by Formula 1 below:
wherein R 1 is an amine group,
X 1 , X 2 , X 3 and X 4 are each independently H or methyl,
A is a substituted or unsubstituted C 6 -C 30 arylene group, a substituted or unsubstituted C 6 -C 30 arylalkylene group, or a substituted or unsubstituted C 6 -C 30 cycloalkylene group,
B is a substituted or unsubstituted C 1 -C 20 alkyl group, a substituted or unsubstituted C 2 -C 20 alkenyl group, or a substituted or unsubstituted C 3 -C 20 alkynyl group, wherein B has a linear or branched structure,
m is an integer from 1 to 20, and
n is 0 or 1; and
a binder solution.
2. The paste composition of claim 1 , comprising
20 to 50% by weight of the metal oxide powder;
0.1 to 10% by weight of the dye containing the compound of Formula 1 with respect to the weight of the metal oxide powder; and
wherein the balance of the paste composition comprises the binder solution.
3. The paste composition of claim 1 , wherein the dye further comprises ruthenium complexes; xanthene colorants; cyanine colorants; basic dyes; phenosafranine; Capri blue; thiosine; Methylene Blue; porphyrinoid compounds; azo colorants; phthalocyanine compounds; anthraquinone colorants; polycyclic quinone colorants; or a combination comprising two or more of the foregoing dyes.
4. The paste composition of claim 1 , wherein the dye further comprises ruthenium trisbipyridyl, Rhodamine B, Rose Bengal, eosin, erythrosine, quinocyanine cryptocyanine, chlorophyll, zinc porphyrin, magnesium porphyrin, or mixtures thereof.
5. The paste composition of claim 1 , wherein the binder composition comprises a solvent and t-butanol in a weight ratio (w/w) of 1:1 to 1:10.
6. The paste composition of claim 5 , wherein the solvent comprises water, glycols, glycerols, or an acetate-based solvent.
7. The paste composition of claim 1 , wherein the metal oxide comprises at least one metal oxide selected from the group consisting of titanium oxides, niobium oxides, hafnium oxides, indium oxides, tin oxides, zinc oxides, or a combination comprising at least one of the foregoing metal oxides.
8. The paste composition of claim 1 , wherein the metal oxide has a nanostructure selected from nanotubes, nanowires, nanobelts, and nanoparticles.