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Monobenzoporphyrins as Sensitizers for Dye‐Sensitized Solar Cells: Observation of Significant Spacer‐Group Effect
Author(s) -
Jinadasa R. G. Waruna,
Li Bihong,
Schmitz Benjamin,
Kumar Siddhartha,
Hu Yi,
Kerr Lei,
Wang Hong
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
chemsuschem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.412
H-Index - 157
eISSN - 1864-564X
pISSN - 1864-5631
DOI - 10.1002/cssc.201600619
Subject(s) - dye sensitized solar cell , conjugated system , energy conversion efficiency , photochemistry , absorption (acoustics) , materials science , solar cell , chemistry , homo/lumo , organic chemistry , optoelectronics , electrode , polymer , molecule , composite material , electrolyte
A series of monobenzoporphyrins ( WH1 – WH4 ) bearing different conjugated spacer groups were designed and synthesized as sensitizers for dye‐sensitized solar cells. Although a phenyl spacer only has a minimal impact on the absorption bands of the monobenzoporphyrin, an ethynylphenyl ( WH3 ) or a vinyl ( WH4 ) spacer redshifts and broadens the absorption bands of the dyes to result in much enhanced light‐harvesting ability. Dye‐sensitized solar cells based on these monobenzoporphyrin dyes displayed remarkable differences in power conversion efficiencies (PCEs). The monobenzoporphyrin bearing no spacer ( WH1 ) resulted in a PCE of only 0.5 %; in contrast, the monobenzoporphyrin bearing vinyl spacers ( WH4 ) achieved a PCE of 5.2 %. The high efficiency of the WH4 cell is attributed to the higher light‐harvesting ability, the lesser extent of aggregation on the TiO 2 surface, and the more favorable electron‐density distributions of the HOMO and LUMO for electron injection and collection. This work demonstrates the exceptional tunability of benzoporphyrins as sensitizers for dye‐sensitized solar cells.