Two self-assembled supramolecular solar cells sensitized via axial coordination with zinc porphyrin

In this work, two new self-assemblies based on zinc porphyrins substituted at the meso-positions with different donor units (denoted as ZnP1 and ZnP2) and anchor porphyrin (ZnPA) dyads formed by the coordination bonds of Zn-to-ligand have been prepared. Further, the assemblies were absorbed on semiconducting TiO₂ electrode surfaces by the carboxylic groups of anchor porphyrin (ZnPA), and their photovoltaic performances in solar cells were performed under 100 mW cm^?2 AM 1.5G sunlight. Photoelectrochemical studies reveal a significantly improved photovoltaic behavior for the dyad of triphenylamine-based zinc porphyrin (ZnP1) compared to the dyad with trimethylamine-based zinc porphyrin. The results were verified by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, calculations, and optical performance. In addition, the modes of the assemblies immobilized on TiO₂ electrode surfaces were also verified by transmission electron microscopy.     

A dye-sensitized solar cell containing an anchoring porphyrin

We have designed a self-assembly ZnP-ZnPA, based on a porphyrin ZnP bearing 1,3,5-triazine-2,4-diamine unit, and anchoring porphyrin ZnPA. The assembly with ZnP-ZnPA was immobilized on nanostructured TiO₂ electrode surfaces. The assembled structures were characterized by transmission electron microscopy. The optical, photovoltaic, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency were measured. The results revealed that the ZnP-ZnPA device had better photovoltaic performance than ZnPA and possessed a higher shortcircuit photocurrent density (J_SC = 6.04) but a lower open-circuit photovoltage (V_OC = 0.51) than anchoring ZnPA. Moreover, our previously reported assembly (ZnP-A1) as reference, the assembly device ZnP-ZnPA had better η (2.24%) and FF (72.7%).     

A comparison of carboxypyridine isomers as sensitizers for dye-sensitized solar cells: assessment of device efficiency and stability

Three novel organic dyes (DF13A–C) carrying regioisomeric carboxypyridine anchoring groups were synthesized by means of a multistep synthetic sequence involving a Pd-catalyzed Stille coupling as the key step. The new compounds underwent full spectroscopic, electrochemical, and computational characterization, and their properties were compared with those of a reference compound endowed with a classic cyanoacrylic acid acceptor (DF15). Photovoltaic measurements showed that dye-sensitized solar cells built with dyes DF13A–C as photosensitizers yielded power conversion efficiencies corresponding to 54–63% of those obtained with the reference compound. Determination of desorption pseudo-first order rate constants indicated that isomers DF13B–C, having the nitrogen atom in neighboring position relative to the carboxylic moiety, were removed from TiO₂ more slowly than isomer DF13A or cyanoacrylic derivative DF15, suggesting a possible cooperative effect of the two functional groups on semiconductor binding: such hypothesis was supported by device stability tests carried out on transparent, larger area cells.     

Synthesis of new truxene based organic sensitizers for iodine-free dye-sensitized solar cells

Developing arylamine photosensitizers with high extinction coefficients, proper electronic structures, and steric properties is warranted for the dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) employing iodine-free redox shuttles. Two new organic sensitizers (M21 and M22) featuring unsymmetrical truxene-based triarylamine donor have been synthesized and compared to its reference sensitizer M4. The effects of unsymmetrical truxene-based triarylamine donors were investigated by their absorption spectra, electrochemical and photovoltaic properties. The incorporation of strong electron donor unit (i.e., dipropylfluorene and 4-methoxybiphenyl) has resulted in an improved light harvesting capacity, and thus photocurrent as well as efficiency of cells. M22 sensitized DSCs employing the Co(II/III)tris(1,10-phenanthroline)-based redox electrolyte affords a short circuit photocurrent of 13.1 mA cm⁻², an open circuit voltage of 861 mV, and a fill factor of 0.70, corresponding to an overall conversion efficiency of 7.89% under standard AM 1.5 sunlight.     

Effect of long alkyl chains of aniline donor on the photovoltaic performance of D‐π‐A zinc porphyrin for dye‐sensitized solar cells

Three novel dyes of JJ1 , JJ2 , and JJ6 featured zinc porphyrin as a basic core structure; N, N‐alkyl‐4‐(prop‐1‐yn‐1‐yl)aniline as an electron donor linked to meso‐10‐position; 4‐(prop‐1‐yn‐1‐yl)benzoic acid as an electron acceptor linked to meso‐20‐position; and 2,6‐bis(dodecyloxy)phenyl or 2,6‐bis(octyloxy)phenyl respectively linked to meso‐5 and meso‐15‐positions of zinc porphyrin have been synthesized and used for dye‐sensitized solar cells. Porphyrin JJ6 featured the shortest alkyl group (─C₄H₉) on the donor, whereas JJ2 contained the longest alkyl groups (─C₁₂H₂₅), and JJ1 has a medium length of octyl groups. With these new porphyrin sensitizers, we observed that JJ6 has 7.55% power conversion efficiency under simulated one‐sun illumination (AM 1.5 G, 100 mW/cm²) with J_SC = 18.64 mA/cm², V_OC = 0.66 V, and fill factor (FF) = 0.61, which was higher than the other two; JJ1 (7.35%) with J_SC = 18.83 mA/cm², V_OC = 0.68 V, and FF = 0.60; and JJ2 (6.33%) with J_SC = 15.69 mA/cm², V_OC = 0.62 V, and FF = 0.65. The power conversion efficiency of JJ6 and JJ1 were higher than JJ2 , demonstrating that the lengthy alkyl groups on the aniline cause a decrease in efficiency of the devices.     

A novel supramolecular multicolor thermometer by self-assembly of a pi-extended zinc porphyrin complex

A zinc complex of (3-pyridyl)porphyrin with an alkynyl sidearm (1) preferentially formed a cyclic tetramer in toluene, which showed supramolecular thermochromism at ambient temperatures of 0-100 degrees C. Because of an appropriate extension of pi-electronic conjugation of the porphyrin chromophore, the thermal-induced self-assembling dynamics of 1 can be detected as a vivid color change from red to yellow to green. In sharp contrast, 2 without any alkynyl group, on heating, developed only a small color change from orange to pink, while 3 bearing two alkynyl groups stayed green and did not display any thermochromism.     

Liquid-crystalline coumarin derivatives: contribution to the tailoring of metal-free sensitizers for solar cells

Coumarins have been used in a wide range of applications, such as dye-sensitised solar cells, laser dyes and optical sensors. In order to further explore the properties of these materials, three new coumarin derivatives were obtained with different terminal arylalkyne linkages to the 6-position of the coumarin core. The synthesised materials were characterised by NMR, absorption and emission spectroscopy, and the liquid crystal properties were investigated through differential scanning calorimetry and polarised optical microscopy. In addition, dye-sensitised solar cells were assembled to evaluate the photoelectrochemical properties of the materials. Only the coumarin with a naphthyl group exhibited stable smectic A and nematic mesophases. All the coumarins were photoemissive in the range 420–461 nm. The adsorption of these dyes on TiO₂ was observed by UV–vis spectroscopy; in addition, by incident photon-to-electron conversion efficiency and I–V curves, photocurrent generation was observed.     

Push–pull effect on the geometries,electronic and optical properties of thiophene based dye-sensitized solar cell materials

Geometries, electronic structure and electronic absorption spectra of thiophene based dye-sensitized solar cells were performed using Density Functional Theory (DFT) and time dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT). Different electron donating and electron withdrawing groups have been substituted. Geometries and electronic properties have been computed at B3LYP/6-31G⁷ and absorption spectra at TD-B3LYP/6-31G⁷ level of theory. Major change in bond lengths and bond angles occurs in the system where there is electron withdrawing or electron donating groups have been substituted. In SYSTEM-2 and SYSTEM-3 intra charge transfer has been observed. HOMO of SYSTEM-2 and SYSTEM-3 is delocalized on left side while LUMO on right side of the molecule. In SYSTEM-1, HOMO is on left side while LUMO is in the center. The designed systems show two absorption peaks for each of the system. In short, choice of appropriate electron withdrawing and donating groups is very important for improving the performance of dye-sensitized solar cells.     

Novel organic dye sensitizers containing fluorenyl and biphenyl moieties for solar cells

Three novel triarylamine dyes(AFL1-AFL3) containing fluorenyl and the biphenyl moieties have been designed and synthesized for application in dye-sensitized solar cells.The light-harvesting capabilities and photovoltaic performance of these dyes were investigated systematically through comparison of different π-bridges.The dye with a furan linker exhibited a higher open-circuit voltage(V_(OC)) and monochromatic incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency(IPCE) compared to thiophene and benzene linker.Thus,AFL3 containing a furan linker exhibited the maximum overall conversion efficiency of 5.81%(V_(OC) = 760 mV,J_(SC) = 11.36 mA cm~2 and ff=0.68) under standard global AM 1.5 G solar condition.     

Ring-fluorinated fluoresceins as an organic photosensitizer for dye-sensitized solar cells using nanocrystalline zinc oxide

Four kinds of ring-fluorinated fluoresceins and sulfofluorescein from tetrafluororesorcinol and/or tetrafluorophthalic anhydride have been synthesized and the photochemical properties of the zinc oxide nanocrystalline electrode sensitized by the ring-fluorinated fluoresceins were investigated.     

两种锌卟啉聚合物自组装染料敏化太阳能电池

合成了2种新型锌卟啉并与金属Mn构建配位聚合物(CPsx,x=1,2)。2种配位聚合物与锚定卟啉(ZnPA)通过金属-配体轴向配位自组装染料敏化太阳能电池(DSSC)。测试结果表明自组装电池具有较好的光电转换效率,特别是基于CPs2的装置具有较高的短路电流和转换效率。我们还对其光学、电化学及光电性能进行了研究,并通过透射电镜(TEM)对自组装体有效敏化在TiO_2电极上进行验证。     

锌卟啉自组装在染料敏化太阳能电池中的应用

制备了2种锌卟啉天线分子P2与P3,并通过自组装的方法成功地将这些天线分子应用到了染料敏化太阳能电池之中。与传统的D-π-A结构的染料相比,这种策略显示出了明显的优势：可以避免复杂的合成步骤,还可以通过调节天线分子和锚固基团的结构去改善染料的光子捕获能力并减少电荷复合行为。当4-吡啶-4-基苯甲酸（A）作为锚固基团时,经过分子自组装之后,基于A-P2的电池器件显示出了1.68%的转换效率,开路电压为526 mV,短路电流密度为5.39 mA·cm^-2,这充分说明了自组装策略在染料敏化太阳能电池中得到了很好的应用。而基于A-P3的电池器件能量转换效率只有0.79%,这可能主要是因为天线分子P3较大的位阻减小了染料吸附量的原因造成的。我们另外也测试比较了它们在光学、电化学、光伏性能等方面的差异。     

Structural optimization of thiophene-(N-aryl)pyrrole-thiophene-based metal-free organic sensitizer for the enhanced dye-sensitized solar cell performance

In this study, we prepared thiophene-(N-aryl)pyrrole-thiophene (TPT)-based two new metal-free organic sensitizers (TPTDYE 2 and TPTDYE 3) with the aim of improving the dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) performance of recently reported TPT-based organic sensitizer (TPTDYE 1). The molecular structure of TPTDYE 1 was tuned by decreasing the distance between the donor and acceptor groups (TPTDYE 2) or by introducing a fluoride atom on the phenyl ring near to the electron accepting cyanoacrylic acid group (TPTDYE 3). The photophysical and electrochemical studies of the newly synthesized sensitizers revealed that their absorption and energy levels were significantly altered compared to those of TPTDYE 1. The DSSC performance of each of sensitizers TPTDYE 2 and TPTDYE 3 was investigated with and without coadsorbent and compared with those of TPTDYE 1 and standard N719. Between the two DSSCs, the one sensitized by TPTDYE 2 offered greatly improved solar to electrical energy conversion efficiency of 6.85% without coadsorbent and 7.06% with coadsorbent. The overall conversion efficiency of the DSSC sensitized by TPTDYE 2 without and with coadsorbent was found to be improved by 32% and 20%, respectively, compared with that of the DSSC sensitized by TPTDYE 1 and almost equal (98.7%) to that of the standard cell prepared from N719 under an identical condition.     

Highly efficient substituted triple rhodanine indoline dyes in zinc oxide dye-sensitized solar cell

Substituited triple rhodanine indoline dyes showed higher performance than known triple rhodanine derivative (D150). A few triple rhodanine indoline derivatives showed comparable conversion efficiency to D149.     

Synthesis and photovoltaic properties of polymeric metal complexes containing 8-hydroxyquinoline as dye sensitizers for dye-sensitized solar cells

Four new donor–acceptor type polymeric metal complexes (P1, P2, P3, and P4) with the same Cd(II) complex in side chain and different conjugated backbone structures were synthesized by Yamamoto coupling and applied in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) as photosensitizers. The photophysical, electrochemical, and thermal properties were investigated in detail, showing that conjugated backbone containing fluorene improved intramolecular charge transfer and increased generation of photocurrent. The highest power conversion efficiency of 0.56% (J _sc?=?1.63?mA?cm^?2, V _oc?=?0.69?V, FF?=?0.50) was obtained with a DSSC based on P3 under simulated air mass 1.5 G solar irradiation, which shows a new strategy to design photosensitizers for DSSCs.     

Novel carboxylated oligothiophenes as sensitizers in photoelectric conversion systems

Novel carboxylated oligothiophenes with different thiophene units were designed and synthesized as photosensitizers in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) for efficient opto-electric materials. The introduction of -COOH into thiophene molecules can lead to a red shift of UV-visible absorption, increase light-harvesting efficiency, and enhance photoinduced charge transport by forming efficient covalent bonds to the substrate surface. A red shift of the absorption spectrum of oligothiophene is also achieved by the increase in the number of thiophene units. The DSSCs based on the oligomers have excellent photovoltaic performances. Under 100 mW cm(-2) irradiation a short-circuit current of 10.57 mA cm(-2) and an overall energy conversion efficiency of 3.36 % is achieved when pentathiophene dicarboxylated acid was used as a sensitizer. The incident photo-to-current conversion efficiency (IPCE) has a maximum as high as 80 %. In addition, photovoltage and photocurrent transients show that slow charge recombination in DSSCs is important for efficient charge separation and excellent photoelectric conversion properties of the oligomers. These initial and promising results suggest that carboxylated oligothiophenes are efficient photosensitizers.     

Photoelectrochemical kinetics of eosin y-sensitized zinc oxide films investigated by scanning electrochemical microscopy

Eosin Y is used as a sensitizer for nanoporous zinc oxide films for prospective applications in photoelectrochemical solar cells. The kinetics of the reduction of the intermittently formed photo-oxidized dye molecules by iodide ions in the electrolyte phase was investigated by using the feedback mode of scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM). The bulk solution phase contained triiodide as electron transfer mediator, from which the ultramicroelectrode-generated iodide ions acted as electron donors for photo-oxidized Eosin Y molecules (D(+) (ads)) at the zinc oxide sample. Effective rate constants for the dye regeneration could be extracted from the SECM approach curves. The effective rate constants at different triiodide concentrations could be related to the rate constant for the reaction of the dissolved donor with photo-oxidized Eosin Y bound to ZnO, as well as to the overall rate of the photosensitization process. For the reaction D(+) (ads) + 1.5 I(-)-->D(ads) + 0.5 I(3) (-) a rate constant of k(ox) = (1.4+/-0.8)x10(8) cm(9/2) mol(-3/2) s(-1) was determined.