DDQ as an effective p-type dopant for the hole-transport material X1 and its application in stable solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells

X1 (MeO-TPD) is an inexpensive and easily synthesized π -conjugated molecule that has been used as a hole-transport material (HTM) in solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells (ssDSSCs), achieving relatively high efficiency. In this paper, we characterize the physicochemical properties of 2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano-1,4-benzoquinone (DDQ) and show that it is a promising p-dopant in a spin-coating solution with X1 as the HTM. The doped ssDSSCs showed an increase in short-circuit current density from 5.38 mA cm –2 to 7.39 mA cm –2 , and their overall power conversion efficiency increased from 2.9% to 4.3%. Also, ssDSSCs with DDQ-doped X1 were more stable than the undoped samples, demonstrating that DDQ can act as a p-type dopant in X1 as an HTM for highly efficient, stable ssDSSCs.