"To reduce the emission problem induced by using fossil fuels, solar energy has become one of the most promising clean energy resources. Different technologies have been developed to support efficient and affordable pathways for solar energy conversion. A dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) is considered as a type of promising device for this purpose. Due to complexity of the internal structure of DSSCs, the interaction between different materials influences drastically the performance of the cell. Copper coordination complexes in their lower oxidation state, such as Cu(I), have intense color and proper energy gap between their ground and excited states. And Cu(I/II) pair acts as a good redox couple in solution with relatively positive potential energy. Therefore, Cu(I) complexes are promising alternative photosensitizers for DSSCs to the expensive ruthenium complexes, and Cu(I/II) complex pairs are promising outer-sphere redox couples.This dissertation discussed the usage of copper sensitizers in DSSCs and aimed to reveal the reasons for the low performance of the cells. A ligand exchange reaction between the common additive in DSSC electrolyte (4-tert-butylpyridine) and copper complexes was studied. The unique effect of this ligand exchange reaction improved the performance of the cell. Other electron-donating additives are explored, and the goal was to establish a design rule for DSSCs with copper complexes as one of the components."--Page ii.
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