Improving the power conversion efficiency of solid state dye sensitized solar cells with a N-oxoammonium salt: 2,2,6,6-Tetramethyl-1-oxopiperidinebromide

P-type doping is a rational strategy for the enhancement of hole transporting properties of the organic semiconductors as well as the device performance of organic photo-electric devices. We originally introduce a stable and solution processed p-type dopant based on N-oxoammonium salts termed 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-1-oxopiperidinebromide salt (TEMPO-Br) for 2,2′,7,7′-tetrakis(N, N-di-p-methoxyphenyl-amine)9,9′-spirobifluorene (Spiro-OMeTAD) based solid state dye sensitized solar cells (ssDSC). By introducing TEMPO-Br doped Spiro-OMeTAD and a commercialized D-π-A sensitizer into ssDSCs, a promising device performance of 6.83% is achieved under simulated AM 1.5G solar irradiation (100 mW cm −2 ), which is significantly better than the control devices (∼1.7 times). The doping effect of TEMPO-Br on the photophysical and electrochemical properties of Spiro-OMeTAD, solid state device performance, cationic dye regeneration kinetics and preliminary long-term stability have been systematically investigated. This work indicates a potential application of N-oxoammonium salts as chemical P-type dopants for triphenylamine based hole transporting materials in solid state photo-electric devices.