A Perylene-Based Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Electron Donor for a Highly Efficient Solar Cell Dye.

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Organic Chemistry
• Photovoltaics

Background:

• Developing efficient organic donor-acceptor (D-A) dyes is crucial for enhancing dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) power conversion efficiency (PCE).
• Novel polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons offer promising building blocks for advanced D-A dyes with tailored excited-state properties.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize and evaluate a novel metal-free D-A dye based on N-annulated benzoindenopentaphene (NBIP) for high-performance DSSCs.
• To explore the impact of specific solubilizing groups on the performance of NBIP-based dyes.

Main Methods:

• Synthesis of N-annulated benzoindenopentaphene (NBIP) derivatives with various solubilizing groups (2-hexyldecyl, 2-hexyldecyloxy, 4-hexylphenyl).
• Cross-coupling reactions to create the final D-A dye by linking functionalized NBIP with 4-(7-ethynylbenzo[c][1,2,5]thiadiazol-4-yl)benzoic acid.
• Fabrication and performance testing of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) using the synthesized metal-free dye under AM1.5G illumination.

Main Results:

• NBIP derivatives with side- and end-chain substituents were synthesized in excellent yields.
• The resulting metal-free D-A dye achieved a high power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 12.6% in DSSCs.
• The dye demonstrated high performance without the need for any coadsorbent.

Conclusions:

• Novel NBIP-based organic D-A dyes are effective for high-efficiency dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs).
• The developed metal-free dye offers a promising alternative for efficient solar energy conversion.
• The synthetic strategy allows for facile preparation of functionalized NBIP building blocks for D-A dye development.