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Molecular Design of Efficient Organic D–A– π –A Dye Featuring Triphenylamine as Donor Fragment for Application in Dye‐Sensitized Solar Cells
Author(s) -
Ferdowsi Parnian,
Saygili Yasemin,
Zhang Weiwei,
Edvinson Tomas,
Kavan Ladislav,
Mokhtari Javad,
Zakeeruddin Shaik M.,
Grätzel Michael,
Hagfeldt Anders
Publication year - 2018
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.201701949
Subject(s) - triphenylamine , dye sensitized solar cell , photochemistry , acceptor , electrolyte , chemistry , energy conversion efficiency , electron donor , electron acceptor , benzoic acid , materials science , electrode , optoelectronics , catalysis , organic chemistry , physics , condensed matter physics
A metal‐free organic sensitizer, suitable for the application in dye‐sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), has been designed, synthesized and characterized both experimentally and theoretically. The structure of the novel donor–acceptor–π‐bridge–acceptor (D–A–π–A) dye incorporates a triphenylamine (TPA) segment and 4‐(benzo[c][1,2,5]thiadiazol‐4‐ylethynyl)benzoic acid (BTEBA). The triphenylamine unit is widely used as an electron donor for photosensitizers, owing to its nonplanar molecular configuration and excellent electron‐donating capability, whereas 4‐(benzo[c][1,2,5]thiadiazol‐4‐ylethynyl)benzoic acid is used as an electron acceptor unit. The influences of I 3 − /I − , [Co(bpy) 3 ] 3+/2+ and [Cu(tmby) 2 ] 2+/+ (tmby=4,4′,6,6′‐tetramethyl‐2,2′‐bipyridine) as redox electrolytes on the DSSC device performance were also investigated. The maximal monochromatic incident photon‐to‐current conversion efficiency (IPCE) reached 81 % and the solar light to electrical energy conversion efficiency of devices with [Cu(tmby) 2 ] 2+/+ reached 7.15 %. The devices with [Co(bpy) 3 ] 3+/2+ and I 3 − /I − electrolytes gave efficiencies of 5.22 % and 6.14 %, respectively. The lowest device performance with a [Co(bpy) 3 ] 3+/2+ ‐based electrolyte is attributed to increased charge recombination.