Abstract
Metal-free D–D–π–A type dyes (i.e., Car-Cy, Car-Rh, Dpa-Cy, and Dpa-Rh) were designed and synthesized for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). In the structure of the sensitized dyes, an imidazole ring is connected to a carbazole or diphenylamine moiety as a donor while cyanoacetic acid or rhodanine-3-acetic acid was introduced as an acceptor/anchor. The molecular structures of D–D–π–A type dyes were characterized using IR, NMR and MS spectral data. The optical, electrochemical, theoretical, light harvesting property, HOMO/LUMO levels, redox behavior, and photovoltaic properties of the synthesized dyes were evaluated. Among the fabricated photovoltaic devices based on the prepared dye, Dpa-Cy dye containing diphenylamine as a donor and cyanoacetic acid as an acceptor exhibited a high-power conversion efficiency of 1.70% with a short-circuit current density (JSC) of 4.48 mA cm−2, an open-circuit photovoltage (VOC) of 0.53 V and a fill factor of 72% under AM1.5 illumination (85 mW cm−2) in comparison with other dyes. Plane-wave calculations indicate that the dye binds reasonably strongly to the TiO2 surface, and the generated DOS picture shows an overlap of the molecular orbitals of the dye and the TiO2 bands. We conclude that the dyes have a promising role as sensitizers in DSSCs.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
R. Selvam, G. Prakash, and K. Subramanian, RSC Adv. 6, 109054 (2016).
C.A. Echeverry, A. Insuasty, M.Á. Herranz, A. Ortíz, R. Cotta, V. Dhas, L. Echegoyen, B. Insuasty, and N. Martín, Dyes Pigm. 107, 9 (2014).
W. Wu, Z.-Y. Li, Z. Zheng, Y. Hu, and J. Hua, Dyes Pigm. 111, 21 (2014).
E.A. Knyazeva, W. Wu, T.N. Chmovzh, N. Robertson, J.D. Woollins, and O.A. Rakitin, Sol. Energy 144, 134 (2017).
K. Hara, T. Sato, R. Katoh, A. Furube, T. Yoshihara, M. Murai, M. Kurashige, S. Ito, A. Shinpo, and S. Suga, Adv. Funct. Mater. 15, 246 (2005).
K. Hara, M. Kurashige, S. Ito, A. Shinpo, S. Suga, K. Sayama, and H. Arakawa, Chem. Commun. 252 (2003).
K. Hara, M. Kurashige, Y. Dan-oh, C. Kasada, A. Shinpo, S. Suga, K. Sayama, and H. Arakawa, J. Chem. 27, 783 (2003).
K. Hara, K. Sayama, Y. Ohga, A. Shinpo, S. Suga and H. Arakawa, Chem. Commun. 569 (2001)
K. Hara, Y. Tachibana, Y. Ohga, A. Shinpo, S. Suga, K. Sayama, H. Sugihara, and H. Arakawa, Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells 77, 89 (2003).
K. Hara, Z.-S. Wang, T. Sato, A. Furube, R. Katoh, H. Sugihara, Y. Dan-oh, C. Kasada, A. Shinpo, and S. Suga, J. Phys. Chem. B 109, 15476 (2005).
K. Hara, K. Miyamoto, Y. Abe, and M. Yanagida, J. Phys. Chem. B 109, 23776 (2005).
R. Chen, X. Yang, H. Tian, and L. Sun, J. Photochem. Photobiol., A 189, 295 (2007).
R. Chen, X. Yang, H. Tian, X. Wang, A. Hagfeldt, and L. Sun, Chem. Mater. 19, 4007 (2007).
W.M. Campbell, K.W. Jolley, P. Wagner, K. Wagner, P.J. Walsh, K.C. Gordon, L. Schmidt-Mende, M.K. Nazeeruddin, Q. Wang, and M. Grätzel, J. Phys. Chem. C 111, 11760 (2007).
S.M.J. Nabavi, B. Hosseinzadeh, M. Tajbakhsh, and H. Alinezhad, J. Mater. Sci.: Mater. Electron. 29, 3270 (2018).
R. Kesavan, I.M. Abdellah, S.P. Singh, A. El-Shafei, and A.V. Adhikari, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 21, 10603 (2019).
B. Hosseinzadeh, A.S. Beni, M. Azari, M. Zandi, and M. Karimi, New J. Chem. 10, 8371 (2016).
J. Yang, P. Ganesan, J. Teuscher, T. Moehl, Y.J. Kim, C. Yi, P. Comte, K. Pei, T.W. Holcombe, M.K. Nazeeruddin, J. Hua, S.M. Zakeeruddin, H. Tian, and M. Grätzel, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 136, 5722 (2014).
J. Tang, W. Wu, J. Hua, J. Li, X. Li, and H. Tian, Energy Environ. Sci. 2, 982 (2009).
J. Tang, J. Hua, W. Wu, J. Li, Z. **, Y. Long, and H. Tian, Energy Environ. Sci. 3, 1736 (2010).
L. Alibabaei, J.H. Kim, M. Wang, N. Pootrakulchote, J. Teuscher, D. Di Censo, R. Humphry-Baker, J.E. Moser, Y.J. Yu, K.Y. Kay, S.M. Zakeeruddin, and M. Grätzel, Energy Environ. Sci. 3, 1757 (2010).
M. Velusamy, Y.-C. Hsu, J.T. Lin, C.-W. Chang, and C.-P. Hsu, Chem. Asian J. 5, 87 (2010).
F. Han, Y. Wang, Z. Wana, C. Jia, J. Luo, and X. Yao, Synth. Met. 221, 95 (2016).
S. Ramkumar and S. Anandan, Dyes Pigm. 97, 397 (2013).
X. Chen, C. Jia, Z. Wan, and X. Yao, Dyes Pigm. 104, 48 (2014).
H.J. Lee, J. Sohn, J. Hwang, and S.Y. Park, Chem. Mater. 16, 456 (2004).
M. Pastore and F. De Angelis, ACS Nano 4, 556 (2010).
S.-L. Li, K.-J. Jiang, K.-F. Shao, and L.-M. Yang, Chem. Commun. 26, 2792 (2006).
S.S. Park, Y.S. Won, Y.C. Choi, and J.H. Kim, Energy Fuels 23, 3732 (2009).
D.D. Babu, H. Cheema, D. Elsherbiny, A. El-Shafei, and A.V. Adhikari, Electrochim. Acta 176, 868 (2015).
P.P. Kumavat, P.K. Baviskar, B.R. Sankapal, and D.S. Dalal, RSC Adv. 108, 106453 (2016).
Z. Wan, C. Jia, L. Zhou, W. Huo, X. Yao, and Y. Shi, Dyes Pigm. 95, 41 (2012).
H. Tian, X. Yang, R. Chen, R. Zhang, A. Hagfeldt, and L. Sun, J. Phys. Chem. C 112, 11023 (2008).
Y. Cao, J. Zhang, Y. Bai, R. Li, S.M. Zakeeruddin, M. Grätzel, and P. Wang, J. Phys. Chem. C 112, 13775 (2008).
B. Liu, W. Li, B. Wang, X. Li, Q. Liu, Y. Naruta, and W. Zhu, J. Power Sources 234, 139 (2013).
M.S. Kim, H.S. Yang, D.Y. Jung, Y.S. Han, and J.H. Kim, Colloids Surf. A 420, 22 (2013).
L. Zhou, C. Jia, Z. Wan, X. Chen, and X. Yao, Org. Electron. 14, 1755 (2013).
A. Kathiravan, S. Venkatesan, P. Murugesan, J. Madhavan, P. Nagaraj, and S. Anandan, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 17, 28647 (2015).
K. Srinivas, K. Yesudas, K. Bhanuprakash, V.J. Rao, and L. Giribabu, J. Phys. Chem. C 113, 20117 (2009).
Q. Wang, W.M. Campbell, E.E. Bonfantani, K.W. Jolley, D.L. Officer, P.J. Walsh, K. Gordon, R. Humphry-Baker, M.K. Nazeeruddin, and M. Grätzel, J. Phys. Chem. B. 109, 15397 (2005).
Acknowledgments
We gratefully acknowledge the Iran National Science Foundation: INSF and the University of Mazandaran for the support of this work.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no competing any financial, personal or other interests.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Nabavi, S.M.J., Alinezhad, H., Hosseinzadeh, B. et al. Design, Synthesis and Application of Imidazole-Based Organic Dyes in Dye Sensitized Solar Cells. J. Electron. Mater. 49, 3735–3750 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-020-08077-y
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-020-08077-y