Molecular engineering of D-π-A based on 1,3-dimethoxybenzene π spacer for dye-sensitized solar cells

Abstract

ANEW as a new organic π- linker sensitizer that incorporating can be anchored D35 as to a the donor TiO unit, 2 surface, 1,3-dimethoxybenzene was synthesized and characterized by UV–Vis, NMR and Mass spectroscopy. The photophysical and electrochemical properties as well as photovoltaic performance of this dye have been studied to evaluate the impact of new π- linker on the power conversion efficiency (PCE) based device. The geometrical configuration of the sensitizer was optimized by density functional theory (DFT) calculations to gain a deep insight into the molecular structure and the electronic properties. Photovoltaic measurements of the present sensitizer in a DSSC configuration was found to show JSC = 4.0 mA cm−2, VOC = 610 mV, FF = 0.53 and η = 1.3% under standard AM 1.5 G illumination.