Effect of Methoxy Group/s on D-π-A Porphyrin Based DSSC: Efficiency Enhanced by Co-Sensitization

We have engineered, synthesized, characterized a series of porphyrin sensitizers which contain either three or one methoxy group/s on phenyl ring of triphenyl imidazole donor moiety with either 3-(5-(benzo[c][1,2,5]thiadiazole-4-yl)thiophene-2-yl)-2-cyanoacrylic acid...

Synthesis, characterization, and performance of oligothiophene cyanoacrylic acid derivatives for solar cell applications

New dye sensitizers based on an oligothiophene cyanoacrylic acid derivative were synthesized and characterized for solar cell applications. The structures of the new dyes prepared as sensitizers based on oligothiophenes, namely5,5''-di-2-cyanoacrylic acid [2,2':5',2''-terthiophene] (dye1), [2,2':5',2''-terthiophene]-5-cyanoacrylic acid(dye2), and [2,2':5',2'':5'',2'''-quaterthiophene]-5-cyanoacrylic acid(dye3) were confirmed by elemental analysis, mass spectrometry, and 1H-NMR spectral data. The P3HT/dye2/nc-TiO2 solar cell produced the highest efficiency of 0.05% with an open circuit voltage of 0.65V compared to dyes 1 and 3 solar cells. That may have been attributed to the dyes’ molecular structure, which had different chain lengths and numbers of groups of cyanoacrylic connected to the dyes’ thiophene moiety The dark current suppressed in the P3HT/dye2/nc-TiO2 solar cells indicated the formation of the charge blocking layer, which produced an enhanced open-circuit voltage accompanied by a high onset voltage.

Computational study of 4, 4'- dimethoxy triphenylamine donor linked with low band gap π spacers by single and double bond for DSSC applications

In this work, ten metal-free organic dyes based on 4, 4’-dimethoxy triphenylamine donor and cyanoacrylic acid acceptor were designed and computationally studied for their potential in DSSC. The different π-spacers...

Design and DFT study of nitrogen-rich donor systems for improved photovoltaic performance in dye-sensitized solar cells

Eighteen electron-rich nitrogen incorporated donors with butadiene π-spacer and cyanoacrylic acid acceptor (A) as photosensitizers (D1-π-A to D18-π-A) for dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) applications have been designed for improving the...

Theoretical Analysis on Heteroleptic Cu(I)-Based Complexes for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells: Effect of Anchors on Electronic Structure, Spectrum, Excitation, and Intramolecular and Interfacial Electron Transfer

Two groups of heteroleptic Cu(I)-based dyes were designed and theoretically investigated by density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT (TD-DFT) methods. Different anchors were integrated into the dye skeleton to shed light on how the type of anchor influenced the electronic structure, absorption spectrum, electron excitation, and intramolecular and interfacial electron transfer of dyes. The results indicated that, compared with other dyes, the dyes with cyanoacrylic acid and nitric acid exhibited more appropriate electron distributions in frontier molecular orbitals (FMOs), lower HOMO (the highest occupied molecular orbital) –LUMO (the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital) energy gaps, broader absorption spectral ranges as well as improved spectral characteristics in the near-infrared region and better intramolecular electron transfer (IET) characteristics with more electrons transferred to longer distances, but smaller orbital overlap. Among all the studied Cu(I)-based dyes, B1 and P1 (with cyanoacrylic acid anchoring group) exhibited the best interface electronic structure parameters with a relatively short electron injection time (τinj) and large dipole moment (μnormal), which would have a positive effect on the open-circuit photovoltage (Voc) and short-circuit current density (Jsc), resulting in high power conversion efficiency (PCE) of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Our findings are expected to provide a new insight into the designing and screening of high-performance dyes for DSSCs.

Hexyl dithiafulvalene (HDT)-substituted carbazole (CBZ) D–π–A based sensitizers for dye-sensitized solar cells

Two carbazole based dyes with donor hexyl dithiafulvalene at C6 position using D–π–A concept having either cyanoacrylic acid (HDT-C1) or rhodanine-3-acetic acid (HDT-C2) as acceptor group for the applied to DSSCs with an efficiency of 7.38%.