A new heteroleptic ruthenium sensitizer enhances the absorptivity of mesoporous titania film for a high efficiency dye-sensitized solar cell

Abstract

A heteroleptic polypyridyl ruthenium complex, cis-Ru(4,4′-bis(5- octylthieno[3,2-b]thiophen-2-yl)-2,2′-bipyridine)(4,4′-dicarboxyl-2, 2′-bipyridine)(NCS)2, with a high molar extinction coefficient of 20.5 × 103 M-1 cm-1 at 553 nm has been synthesized and demonstrated as a highly efficient sensitizer for a dye-sensitized solar cell, giving a power conversion efficiency of 10.53% measured under an irradiation of air mass 1.5 global (AM 1.5G) full sunlight. © The Royal Society of Chemistry.