Effects of surface modification on dye-sensitized solar cell based on an organic dye with naphtho[2,1-b:3,4-b']dithiophene as the conjugated linker

Naphthodithiophene-Fused Porphyrins: Synthesis, Characterization, and Impact of Extended Conjugation on Aromaticity

The fusion of tetrapyrroles with aromatic heterocycles constitutes a useful tool for manipulating their opto-electronic properties. In this work, the synthesis of naphthodithiophene-fused porphyrins was achieved through a Heck reaction-based cascade of steps followed by the Scholl reaction. The naphthodithiophene-fused porphyrins display a unique set of optical and electronic properties. Fusion of the naphtho[2,1-b:3,4-b']dithiophene to porphyrin (F2VTP) leads to a ~20% increase in the fluorescence lifetime, which is accompanied, unexpectedly, by a more than two-fold drop in the emission quantum yield (ϕ=0.018). In contrast, fusion of the isomeric naphtho[1,2-b:4,3-b']dithiophene to porphyrin (F3VPT) results in a ~1.5-fold increase in the fluorescence quantum yield (ϕ=0.13) with a concomitant ~30 % increase in the fluorescence lifetime. This behavior suggests that fusion of the porphyrin with the naphthodithiopheno-system mainly affects the radiative rate constant in the Q-state deactivation pathway, where the effects of the isomeric naphtho[2,1-b:3,4-b']dithiophene- versus naphtho[1,2-b:4,3-b']dithiophene-fusion are essentially the opposite. Interestingly, nucleus-independent chemical shifts analysis revealed a considerable difference between the aromaticities of these two isomeric systems. Our results demonstrate that subtle structural differences in the fused components of the porphyrin can be reflected in rather significant differences between the photophysical properties of the resulting systems.

Double anchor indolo[3,2-b]indole-derived metal-free dyes with extra electron donors as efficient sensitizers for dye-sensitized solar cells

New di-acceptors organic dye with extra electron donors shows an enhanced PCE of 7.86% comparing to parent one.

Pyrimidine-2-carboxylic Acid as an Electron-Accepting and Anchoring Group for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

We report a new dye (INPA) adopting pyrimidine-2-carboxylic acid as an electron-accepting and anchoring group to be used in dye-sensitized solar cells. IR spectral analysis indicates that the anchoring group may form two coordination bonds with TiO2 and so facilitate the interaction between the anchoring group and TiO2. The INPA-based cell exhibits an overall conversion efficiency of 5.45%, which is considerably higher than that obtained with cyanoacrylic acid commonly used as the electron acceptor.