Azadipyrromethene dyes (�azadipyrrins�) have strong red-near IR absorption but have not previously been explored as sensitizing dyes for dye-sensitized solar cells.  Free base azadipyrrins do not have a stable excited state, whereas difluoroboryl-azadipyrrins do have a stable excited state but lack sufficient electrochemical potential energy in that excited state for electron injection into n-type oxide semiconductors such as TiO2 and ZnO. We investigated the synthesis, optoelectronic properties, and dye-sensitization behavior or boryl-azadipyrrins bearing either fluorine atoms or alkynyl groups at the boron atom and having a tailored pi-extended tethering group to both tune the excited state energy level of the dyes as well as anchor them to the oxide surface.  In addition to operating within active photoelectrochemical cells based on either n-type oxide semiconductors or a p-type oxide semiconductor (Cu2O), these dyes are useful as probes of the perturbation of dye/oxide energy levels that takes place upon monolayer formation upon an oxide semiconductor, a phenomenon of great importance in interfacial electron transfer studies.

Dye-sensitized solar cells using azadipyrromethene dyes

247th National Meeting (2014)

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