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Novel coumarin sensitizers based on 2-(thiophen-2-yl)thiazole π-bridge for dye-sensitized solar cells

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Abstract

2-(Thiophen-2-yl)thiazole was introduced as a π-bridge into diethylamino coumarin and novel coumarin sensitizers were synthesized with cyanoacrylic acid or rhodanine acetic acid as electron acceptor. Their light-harvesting capabilities and photovoltaic performance were investigated and compared with those of a similar sensitizer bearing a phenylthiophene bridge. Replacement of benzene in the π-bridge with a thiazole ring contributes to the improvement of the light-harvesting capability and hence superior JSC. 7-Diethylamino coumarin dye with a 2-(thiophen-2-yl)thiazole bridge and cyanoacrylic acid acceptor shows the most efficient photoelectricity conversion efficiency which has the maximum value of 4.78% (VOC = 690 mV, JSC = 9.79 mA cm−2, and ff = 0.71) under simulated AM 1.5 G irradiation (100 mW cm−2).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Chemical Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, 310032, China

    Liang Han, Rui Kang, Xiaoyan Zu, Yanhong Cui & Jianrong Gao

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  1. Liang Han
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  2. Rui Kang
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  3. Xiaoyan Zu
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  4. Yanhong Cui
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  5. Jianrong Gao
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Correspondence to Jianrong Gao.

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Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: 10.1039/c5pp00216h

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Han, L., Kang, R., Zu, X. et al. Novel coumarin sensitizers based on 2-(thiophen-2-yl)thiazole π-bridge for dye-sensitized solar cells. Photochem Photobiol Sci 14, 2046–2053 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1039/c5pp00216h

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