Synthesis and characterization of peripherally ferrocene-modified zinc phthalocyanine for dye-sensitized solar cell

Abstract

Synthesis and structural characterization of peripherally ferrocene-substituted zinc phthalocyanine (ZnPc-Fc) werecarried out for efficient far-red/near-IR performance in dye-sensitized nanostructured TiO 2 solar cells. Incorporating ferrocene into phthalocyanine strongly improved the dye solubility in polar organic solvents, and reduced surface aggregation due to the steric effect of bulky ferrocene substituents. The involvement of electron transfer reaction pathways between ferrocene and phthalocyanine in ZnPc-Fc was evidenced by completely quenched fluorescence from S1 state (< 0.08% vs ZnPc). Strong absorption bands at 542 and 682 nm were observed in the transient absorption spectroscopy of ZnPc-Fc in DMSO, which was excited at a 670 nm laser pulse with a 15 ps full width at half maximum. Also, the excited state absorption signals at 450 - 600 and 750 - 850 nm appeared from the formation of charge separated state of phthalocyanine's anion. The lifetime of the charge separate state in ZnPc-Fc was determined to be 170 ± 8 ps, which was almost 17 times shorter than that of the ZnPc.