Croconine and Cyanine dyes as NIR-sensitizers for DSCs

Claudia Barolo^a, Roberto Buscaino^a, Claudio Magistris^a, Nadia Barbero^a, Guido Viscardi^a, Vittoria Novelli^b^,^c, Frédéric Sauvage^b^,^c

^aUniversity of Torino and NIS Interdepartmental Centre, Via P. Giuria 7, 10125, Torino, Italy

^bLaboratoire de Réactivité et Chimie du Solide (CNRS-UMR 7314), Université de Picardie Jules Verne, 33 Rue Saint-Leu, 80039, Amiens Cedex, France

^cInstitut de Chimie de Picardie (FR CNRS 3085), Amiens Cedex, France

International Conference on Hybrid and Organic Photovoltaics
Proceedings of International Conference on Hybrid and Organic Photovoltaics 2015 (HOPV15)

Roma, Italy, 2015 May 11th - 13th

Organizer: Filippo De Angelis

Poster, Nadia Barbero, 418
Publication date: 5th February 2015

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) [1] provide a signiﬁcantlow-cost alternative to conventional photovoltaics. State-of-the-art DSCs based on molecular dyes are currently characterized by solar-to-electric power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of 10–13%. [2] Nevertheless, DSCs show overall efficiencies not comparable to the standard silicon cells. One of the most critical DSCs components is the sensitizer and to further increase PCEs, it would be useful to develop sensitizers, combining easiness of synthesis and increased light-harvesting ability in the near-infrared (NIR) region [3]. Metal-free organic sensitizers are accessible by simple synthetic approaches and well established purification procedures. Structurally, they can be simply modified and functionalised in order to obtain the desired spectroscopic properties between 400–700 nm. Croconate dyes (or croconines) are a class of dye that exhibits absorption in the NIR region with a strong solvatochromic effect. They possess a strong absorption, greater photostability and better yield. Kamat and co-workers published [4] an example of croconate dyes, CR-1, which absorbs the light at 865 nm with a maximum IPCE around 1.2% at 650 nm. Cyanines belong to the class of polymethine dyes and are characterized by high molar extinction coefficient, high solubility, tunable and very strong light absorption in the visible and NIR region. Originally, they found application as standard sensitizers in silver halide photography. They have been recently introduced as sensitizers in DSCs but with comparatively low efficiencies [5]. In this work we present the synthesis and the optical and photovoltaic characterization of symmetric dibranched croconine and cyanine-based sensitizers as a low cost alternative to the classical unsymmetrical NIR dyes. A panchromatic light harvesting was also obtained by an accurate tuning of the employed molecular moieties on the dyes framework.

[1] O’Regan, B.; Graetzel, M. A low-cost, high-efficiency solar cell based on dye-sensitized colloidal TiO2 films. Nature 1991, 353, 737-740. [2] Mathew, S.; Yella, A.; Gao, P.; Humphry-Baker, R.; Curchod, B.F.E.; Ashari-Astani, N; Tavernelli, I.; Rothisberger, U.; Nazeruddin, Md. K.; Graetzel, M. Dye-sensitized solar cells with 13% efficiency achieved through Molecular engineering of porphyrin sensitizers. Nat. Chem. 2014, 6, 242-247. [3] Park, J.; Viscardi, G.; Barolo, C.; Barbero, N. Near-infrared Sensitization in Dye-sensitized Solar Cells. Chimia 2013, 67, 129-135. [4] Takechi, K.; Kamat, P. V.; Avirah, R. R.; Jyothish, K.; Ramaiah, D. Harvesting Infrared Photons with Croconate Dyes. Chem. Mater. 2008, 20, 265-272. [5] Mishra, A.; Fischer, M.K.R.; Bäuerle, P. Metal-Free Organic Dyes for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells: From Structure: Property Relationships to Design Rules. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2009, 48, 2474-2499.

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