A series of new organic sensitisers for dye-sensitised solar cells

Dye-sensitised solar cells (DSSCs) have attracted a great deal of interest. Dye molecules are key materials in DSSCs that produce electrons. This study reports on synthesis of the organic dyes and investigation their performance in DSSCs.

A series of new organic dyes were prepared using double rhodanine as the fundamental electron-acceptor group and aldehydes with varying substituents as the electron-donor groups. These dyes were first purified and then characterised by analytical techniques. DSSCs were fabricated to determine the photovoltaic behaviour and conversion efficiency of each individual dye.

Results demonstrated that all the dyes form j-type aggregates on the nano TiO₂. All dyes in DSSC structure show suitable power conversion efficiency, and Dye 5 due to presence of OCH₃ and OiPr presents maximum conversion efficiency.

In the search for high-efficiency organic dyes for DSSCs, development of new materials offering optimised photochemical stabilities as well as suitable optical and electrical properties is importance.

Organic dyes as photosensitisers are interesting due to low cost, relatively facile dye synthesis and capability of easy molecular tailoring.

A series of new organic metal-free dyes were prepared as sensitisers for DSSCs for the first time.