Structural features of indoline donors in D–A-π-A type organic sensitizers for dye-sensitized solar cells

Structural features of indoline donors in D–A-π-A type organic sensitizers for dye-sensitized solar cells Full article

Journal

Molecular Systems Design and Engineering
ISSN: 2058-9689

Output data

Year: 2021, Volume: 6, Number: 9, Pages: 730-738 Pages count : 9 DOI: 10.1039/d1me00054c

Authors

Tanaka Ellie ¹ , Mikhailov Maxim ² , Nikita Gudim ³ , Ekaterina A Knyazeva ^3,2 , Mikhalchenko Ludmila V. ³ , Robertson Neil ¹ , Oleg Alekseevich Rakitin ^3,2

Affiliations

1	EaStCHEM School of Chemistry, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3FJ, UK
2	Nanotechnology Education and Research Center, South Ural State University, 454080 Chelyabinsk, Russia
3	N. D. Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119991 Moscow, Russia

We report three newly synthesized D-A-π-A metal-free organic sensitizers for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) based on benzo[c][1,2,5]thiadiazole as an internal acceptor (A) and N-substituted indolines fused with cyclopentane or cyclohexane as donor (D) building block. Optical and photovoltaic properties of the new MAX series dyes and solar cells based on them were considered in comparison with our previously-reported dye MAX114 and well-known dye WS-2. The effect of replacing the cyclopentane ring with a cyclohexane one, as well as a substituent at the nitrogen atom of the donor fragment (aromatic p-tolyl, non-aromatic benzyl and aliphatic 2-ethylhexyl) on the position of absorption maxima in UV/vis spectra, the EHOMO and ELUMO values of MAX series sensitizers and photocurrent density–voltage trends of the corresponding solar cells were studied. It was shown that the MAX157 dye with a 9-(2-ethylhexyl)-2,3,4,4a,9,9a-hexahydro-1H-carbazole donor fragment has a shorter-wavelength absorption maximum in the intra-molecular charge transfer absorption band with the largest molar extinction coefficient in comparison with the other dyes studied. The same dye applied to the TiO2 surface showed broader optical absorption compared to other dyes in the MAX series. All dyes have a relatively narrow HOMO–LUMO gap (1.80–1.90 eV). Amongst the series, DSSCs based on MAX157 dye recorded the best power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 5.2%, which increased to 5.8% when co-sensitized with SQ2 dye. All MAX dyes reached PCEs varying between 4.4–5.2%, superior to the reference WS-2 dye (3.6%).

Tanaka E. , Mikhailov M. , Nikita Gudim , Ekaterina A Knyazeva , Mikhalchenko L.V. , Robertson N. , Oleg Alekseevich Rakitin
Structural features of indoline donors in D–A-π-A type organic sensitizers for dye-sensitized solar cells
Molecular Systems Design and Engineering. 2021. V.6. N9. P.730-738. DOI: 10.1039/d1me00054c WOS Scopus OpenAlex

Web of science:	WOS:000671271600001
Scopus:	2-s2.0-85114616464
OpenAlex:	W3178843172

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OpenAlex	27
Web of science	26
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