Metal-free dipolar compounds consist of arylamine as the donor, 2-cyanoacrylic acid as the acceptor, and conjugated spacer between the donor and the acceptor. Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) were fabricated using these dyes as light harvesting sensitizers and nanocrystalline anatase TiO2 as the photoanode. The correlation between molecular structure and cell performance will be discussed.The conjugated spacers in these dyes were systematically tuned by incorporation of electron-rich or electron-deficient heteroaromatic rings. DSSCs of the best performance have efficiencies reaching >95% of the standard cell based on N719. DSSCs based on these dyes can have efficiencies surpassing that of N719-based cell with the use of thinner TiO2 film or co-sensitizers.New arylamine-based metal-free p-type sensitizers have been synthesized and fabricated as p-type DSSCs using nanostructured NiO film as the photocathode. The sensitizers with two anchoring carboxylic acid exhibited more facile hole injection and more effective suppression of dark current. Consequently, DSSCs based on these sensitizers had higher VOC and JSC values as well as better efficiencies.

Metal-free sensitizers for dye-sensitized solar cells

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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