Conveniently synthesized isophorone dyes for high efficiency dye-sensitized solar cells: tuning photovoltaic performance by structural modification of donor group in donor-π-acceptor system

摘要

A novel isophorone sensitizer D-3 based on a donor-π-acceptor system has been conveniently synthesized for highly efficient dye-sensitized solar cells, resulting in a remarkable overall conversion efficiency of 7.41% (AM 1.5, 100 mW cm~(-2)) with J_(sc) of 18.63 mA cm~(-2), V_(oc) of 634 mV and FF of 0.63.rnDye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) have attracted considerable attention as alternatives to conventional inorganic photovoltaic devices due to their high performance and low-cost of production. The classic ruthenium complexes have been reported to give a solar-to-electrical energy conversion efficiency of up to 11% under AM 1.5 irradiation with long time stability. However, the utilization of rare or expensive metals with substantial purification brings the major problem in cost. Additionally, to gain a satisfactory efficiency, a thick TiO_2 film consisting of double layers was needed for ruthenium dyes due to their relatively low molar extinction coefficients. Therefore, more and more attention has been directed to the application of metal-free organic dyes in DSSCs.