染料敏化太阳能电池中具有不同电子给体的吩噻嗪类有机光敏染科的理论研究

采用密度泛函理论和含时密度泛函理论方法计算了2个吩噻嗪类染料及其吸附到TiO2上后分子的基态和激发态光物理性质与热力学参数.结果表明,电子给体的改变虽未明显改变染料的光谱性质(垂直跃迁能和振子强度),但可以改变分子的前线轨道能级,进而影响染料分子的激子结合能Eb及激发态电子注入到半导体TiO2中的驱动力△Gint的大小...     

Substituent Effect on the π Linkers in Triphenylamine Dyes for Sensitized Solar Cells: A DFT/TDDFT Study

A series of metal‐free organic donor–π bridge–acceptor dyes are studied computationally using density functional theory (DFT) and time‐dependent DFT (TDDFT) approaches to explore their potential performances in dye‐sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Taking triphenylamine (TPA) and cyanoacrylic acid moieties as donor and acceptor units, respectively, the effects of different substituents of the π linkers in the TPA‐based dyes on the energy conversion efficiency of the DSSCs are theoretically evaluated through optimized geometries, charge distributions, electronic structures, simulated absorption spectra, and free energies of injection. The results show that the molecular orbital energy levels and electron‐injection driving forces of the TPA dyes can be tuned by the introduction of substituents with different electron‐withdrawing or ‐donating abilities. The electron‐withdrawing substituent always lowers the energies of both frontier orbitals, while the electron‐donating one heightens them simultaneously. The efficiency trend of these TPA derivatives as sensitizers in DSSCs is also predicted by analyzing the light‐harvesting efficiencies and the free energies of injection. The following substituents are shown to increase the efficiency of the dye: OMe, OEt, OHe, and OH.     

染料敏化太阳能电池中二聚噻吩类光敏染料构效关系的理论研究

D-π-A型有机光敏染料结构上的微小差异会引起器件性能的显著不同. 为了合理解释染料分子1和2(给体分别为咔唑和二氢吲哚)结构与性能之间的关系, 采用密度泛函理论(DFT)和含时密度泛函理论(TD-DFT)讨论了包括紫外-可见吸收光谱、 光捕获效率、 电子注入驱动力、 垂直方向偶极矩和电子转移数目在内的一系列影响染料性能的理论参数. 结果表明, 在光捕获效率和电子注入效率差别不大的情况下, 染料分子2较低的染料再生效率可导致其短路电流较小; 同时, 在由光诱导产生的从染料分子转移到半导体的电子数目以及电子复合程度相差不大的情况下, 染料分子1垂直方向上较大的偶极矩则可导致其具有较高的开路电压. 计算结果与实验值相吻合, 有望对今后设计合成高效光敏染料提供一定的理论指导.     

Promising sensitizers for dye sensitized solar cells: A comparison of Ru(II) with other earth's scarce and abundant metal polypyridine complexes

There has recently been a growing interest in dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) based on ruthenium metal, but due to the scarcity and high price of ruthenium, design of better and cheaper light adsorbent dyes based on more abundant metal ions is one of the key issues for future development of the DSSCs. Using density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT we have studied the properties of new and abundant metal ion-based polypyridyl dyes for p-type DSSCs and compared with ruthenium and other scarce metal ions. Molecular geometries, electronic structures, and optical absorption spectra have been calculated using an implicit solvent corresponding to acetonitrile. The calculated fair light harvesting efficiency, high hole injection efficiency and Gibbs free energy for the hole injection and longer excited state lifetime (important for reflecting the efficiency of solar cells) for the new abundant metal ions (V³⁺ and Cr²⁺) based dyes could provide promising sensitizers for efficient next generation DSSC's for p-SC.     

Molecular engineering and theoretical investigation of organic sensitizers based on indoline dyes for quasi-solid state dye-sensitized solar cells

Novel indoline dyes, I-1-I-4, with structural modification of π-linker group in the D-π-A system have been synthesized and fully characterized. Molecular engineering through expanding the π-linker segment has been performed. The ground and excited state properties of the dyes have been studied by means of density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT (TD-DFT). Larger π-conjugation linkers would lead to broader spectral response and higher molar extinction coefficient but would decrease dye-loaded amount on TiO(2) electrode and LUMO level. While applied in DSSCs, the variation trends in short-circuit current density (J(sc)) and open-circuit voltage (V(oc)) were observed to be opposite to each other. The internal reasons were studied by experimental data and theoretical calculations in detail. Notably, I-2 showed comparable photocurrent values with liquid and quasi-solid state electrolyte, which suggested through molecular engineering of organic sensitizers the dilemma between optical absorption and charge diffusion lengths can be balanced well. Through studies of photophysical, electrochemical, and theoretical calculation results, the internal relations between chemical structure and efficiency have been revealed, which serve to enhance our knowledge regarding design and optimization of new sensitizers for quasi-solid state DSSCs, providing a powerful strategy for prediction of photovoltaic performances.     

应用于染料敏化太阳能电池的基于染料R6的含有不同吸电子基团的有机染料的理论研究

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) are the most promising alternatives to traditional fossil energy because of their advantages of low production cost, facile structure, relatively low environmental impact, relatively high photoelectronic absorption efficiency, and overall high efficiency. In addition, several studies on sensitizers as vital components have been conducted over the last three decades. Compared to metal dyes, metal-free organic dyes have been considered as promising candidates because of their simple fabrication, multiple structures, high molar absorption coefficients, easily tunable properties, and environmental friendliness. In this study, we systematically investigated the optoelectronic properties of six metal-free organic donor-acceptor dyes (RD1–6) derived from the known dye R6 by using the density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT methods. Cell performance parameters were discussed, including the geometrical and electronic structures, absorption spectrum, adsorption energy, light harvesting efficiency (LHE) curve, predictive short circuit current density (J_sc^Pred.), predictive open circuit voltage (V_oc^Pred.), and theoretical power conversion efficiency (PCE). Results revealed that all the designed dyes exhibited high theoretical PCE. In particular, dyes RD1, 2, and 4–6 showed greater conjugations, and dyes RD1–3 had smaller energy gaps than those of the reference dye. In addition, dyes RD1–3, 5, and 6 exhibited better light harvesting capacities that covered the entire visible region and extended to the near-infrared region with obviously red-shift maximum absorption wavelengths (λ_max), wider LHE curves, and higher J_sc^Pred. as compared to the reference dye. It was critical that dyes RD1 and 2 not only have greater conjugations and narrow band gaps but also good light harvesting capacities with more than 56-nm red-shift maximum absorption wavelengths and broadened LHE curves than those of the reference dye. Notably, mainly because of an average increment of 12.0% of J_sc^Pred., a remarkable increment of the theoretical power conversion efficiency was observed from 12.6% for dye R6 to 14.1% for dyes RD1 and 2. Thus, dyes RD1 and 2 exhibited superior cell performances and could be promising sensitizer candidates for highly efficient DSSCs. These results could be used to guide effective synthetic efforts in the discovery of efficient metal-free organic dye sensitizers in DSSCs.     

Molecular design of organic dyes with diketopyrrolopyrrole for dye‐sensitized solar cell: A theoretical approach

Three designed metal‐free dyes based on 3‐(10‐butyl‐8‐(methylthio)‐10H‐phenothiazin‐3‐yl)‐2‐cyanoacrylic acid (V5) are investigated by density functional theory (DFT) and time‐dependent DFT to improve the efficiency of V5‐based solar cell devices. We have studied the geometrical structures, excitations, electronic structures, and conduction band shift caused by dye adsorption. The results indicate that the designed dyes have several merits compared with V5 including: (i) smaller energy band gaps and the LUMO closer to conduction band of TiO₂; (ii) wider absorption spectra and higher oscillator strength; (iii) larger dipole moment that lead to higher V_oc value. Our work suggests that the modification of π‐bridge with diketopyrrolopyrrole unit is very effective for designing novel metal‐free dyes with improved performance for dye‐sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). These findings are expected to provide a bright way to design new efficient metal‐free organic DSSCs. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Alkyl-functionalized organic dyes for efficient molecular photovoltaics

We designed and synthesized new alkyl-functionalized organic dyes, MK-1 and MK-2, for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Based on the MK-2 dye, a high performance of efficiency (eta, 7.7%; short-circuit current density Jsc = 14.0 mA cm-2, open-circuit voltage Voc = 0.74 V, and fill factor FF = 0.74) was achieved under AM 1.5 G irradiation (100 mW cm-2). Remarkably, the relatively higher Voc for DSSCs based on MK-1 and MK-2 dyes, which have long alkyl chains, were observed among the organic dyes caused by the increasing of the electron lifetime in the conduction band of TiO2. Our molecular design of alkyl-functionalized dyes strongly suggests the promising performance of molecular photovoltaics based on organic dyes.     

Highly efficient organic indolocarbazole dye in different acceptor units for optoelectronic applications—a first principle study

A series of novel organic dyes (ICZA1, ICZA2, ICZA3, ICZA4) with D-π-A structural configuration incorporating indolo[3,2,1-jk]carbazole moiety as donor (D) unit, thiophene as π-linker and 2-cyanoacrylic acid as acceptor unit were investigated using density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT (TD-DFT) methods. Indolo[3,2,1-jk]carbazole-based D-π-A dyes composed of different acceptor groups were designed. By modulating acceptor unit, the efficiency of D-π-A dye-based dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) can be further improved. In the present work, four novel push-pull organic dyes only differing in electron acceptor, have been designed based on the experimental literature value of IC-2. In order to further improve the light harvesting capability of indolo[3,2,1-jk]carbazole dyes, the acceptor influence on the dye performance were examined. The NLO property of the designed dye molecules can be derived as polarizability and hyperpolarizability. The calculated value of ICZA2 dye is the best candidate for NLO properties. Furthermore, the designed organic dyes exhibit good photovoltaic performance of charge transfer characteristics, driving force of electron injection, dye regeneration, global reactivity, and light harvesting efficiency (LHE). From the calculated value of ICZA4 dye, it has been identified as a good candidate for DSSCs applications. Finally, it is concluded that the both ICZA2 and ICZA4 dyes theoretically agrees well with the experimental value of IC-2 dye. Hence, the dyes ICZA2 and ICZA4 can serve as an excellent electron withdrawing groups for NLO and DSSCs applications.     

有机染料D-SS和D-ST用于染料敏化太阳能电池光敏剂的比较

为了揭示D-SS和D-ST分子敏化的染料敏化太阳能电池(DSSCs)的物理机制,采用密度泛函理论(DFT)、含时密度泛函理论(TDDFT)和自然键轨道(NBO)分析,模拟计算染料D-SS和D-ST分子的结构、紫外-可见吸收光谱和能级结构.D-SS的紫外-可见吸收光谱相比于D-ST的有明显的红移,而且D-SS分子的摩尔吸光系数也高于D-ST分子的.D-SS分子本应该比D-ST分子拥有更高的俘获太阳辐射光子的能力,但由于D-SS分子的最高占据分子轨道(HOMO)能级位置比氧化还原电解质(|-/|-3)的氧化还原能级高,处于光激发态的D-SS分子向TiO2电极注入电子而被氧化后,不能顺利地从电解质中得到电子而还原,使得D-SS分子俘获光子的能力不能充分发挥,从而严重地降低了由其敏化的DSSCs的光电性能和光电能量转换效率.揭示了D-SS敏化的DSSCs的光电性能,特别是光电能量转换效率比D-ST敏化的DSSCs的低的原因.染料敏化剂分子的HOMO能级的位置对于DSSCs来说也是很重要的,用于DSSCs的有机敏化剂分子的HOMO能级的位置必须低于氧化还原电解质的氧化还原能级.     

Conjugate spacer effect on molecular structures and absorption spectra of triphenylamine dyes for sensitized solar cells: density functional theory calculations

The molecular structures and absorption spectra of triphenylamine dyes containing variable thiophene units as the spacers (TPA1-TPA3) were investigated by density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT. The calculated results indicate that the strong conjugation is formed in the dyes and the length of conjugate bridge increases gradually with the increased thiophene spacers. The interfacial charge transfer between the TiO2 electrode and TPA1-TPA3 are electron injection processes from the excited dyes to the semiconductor conduction band. The simulated absorption bands are assigned to π→π* transitions, which exhibit appreciable red-shift with respect to the experimental bands due to the lack of direct solute-solvent interaction and the inherent approximations in TD-DFT. The effect of thiophene spacers on the molecular structures, absorption spectra and photovoltaic performance were comparatively discussed and points out that the choice of appropriate conjugate bridge is very important for the design of new dyes with improved performance.     

Nanocrystalline electrodes based on nanoporous-walled WO3 nanotubes for organic-dye-sensitized solar cells

Nanoporous-walled tungsten oxide (WO(3)) nanotubes (NTs), which had a more positive conduction band edge level compared to that of TiO(2), were applied to various organic dyes for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The dye-sensitized WO(3) NTs displayed photosensitization for the organic dyes whose lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) level was relatively positive to the conventional TiO(2) electrode and, thus, not applicable for electron injection to the TiO(2) electrode. Electron transport time and electron lifetime for the WO(3) electrode in the DSSCs were investigated. In comparison to the DSSCs based on TiO(2), SnO(2), and In(2)O(3), the WO(3) DSSCs displayed the longest lifetime. On the other hand, non-diffusion-like electron transport may be an issue to apply WO(3) for the DSSCs.     

Exploration on Charge Transfer and Absorption Spectra of Spiro[fluorene-9,90-xanthene]-based Polyoxometalate Hybrids Toward High Performance Dye-sensitized Solar Cell

Based on spiro[fluorene-9,90-xanthene](SFX, dye 1), the Lindqvist-type polyoxometalate(POM) functionalized with SFX and its derivatives(dyes 2-4) used in dye-sensitized solar cells(DSSCs) were designed and investigated with the density functional theory(DFT) and time-dependent DFT(TD-DFT) calculations. The results indicate that Lindqvist-type POM is the main contribution to the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital(LUMO) and affects the LUMO energies of dyes 2-4. The maximum absorptions of the designed dyes containing POM(dyes 2-4) are red shifted comparing with that of dye 1. The introduction of electron-donating group onto SFX segment is helpful to red shift the absorption spectra. The major factors affecting the performance of DSSCs, including light harvesting and electron injection were evaluated. Considering the absorption spectra and photovoltaic parameters, dyes 3 and 4 are promising high performance dye sensitizers in n-type DSSCs.     

Kinetics of electron recombination of dye-sensitized solar cells based on TiO2 nanorod arrays sensitized with different dyes

The performance and electron recombination kinetics of dye-sensitized solar cells based on TiO(2) films consisting of one-dimensional nanorod arrays (NR-DSSCs) which are sensitized with dyes N719, C218 and D205, respectively, have been studied. It has been found that the best efficiency is obtained with the dye C218 based NR-DSSCs, benefiting from a 40% higher short-circuit photocurrent density. However, the open circuit photovoltage of the N719 based cell is 40 mV higher than that of the organic dye C218 and D205 based devices. Investigation of the electron recombination kinetics of the NR-DSSCs has revealed that the effective electron lifetime, τ(n), of the different dye based NR-DSSCs shows the sequence of C218 > D205 > N719. The higher V(oc) with the N719 based NR-DSSC is originated from the more negative energy level of the conduction band of the TiO(2) film. In addition, in comparison to the DSSCs with the conventional nanocrystalline particles based TiO(2) films, the NR-DSSCs have shown over two orders of magnitude higher τ(n) when employing N719 as the sensitizer. Nevertheless, the τ(n) of the DSSCs with the C218 based nanorod arrays is only ten-fold higher than that of the nanoparticles based devices. The remarkable characteristic of the dye C218 in suppressing the electron recombination of DSSCs is discussed.     

High-Performance Dipolar Organic Dyes with an Electron-Deficient Diphenylquinoxaline Moiety in the π-Conjugation Framework for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

We report here the synthesis and electrochemical and photophysical properties of a series of easily prepared dipolar organic dyes and their application in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). For the six organic dyes, the molecular structures comprised a triphenylamine group as an electron donor, a cyanoacrylic acid as an electron acceptor, and an electron-deficient diphenylquinoxaline moiety integrated in the π-conjugated spacer between the electron donor and acceptor moieties. The incorporation of the electron-deficient diphenylquinoxaline moiety effectively reduces the energy gap of the dyes and broadly extends the spectral coverage. DSSCs based on dye 6 produced the best overall cell performance of 7.35?%, which translates to approximately 79?% of the intrinsic efficiency of the DSSCs based on the standard N719 dye under identical experimental conditions. The high performance of DSSCs based on dye 6 among the six dyes explored is attributed to the combined effects of high dye loading on a TiO(2) surface, rapid dye regeneration, and effective retardation of charge recombination.     

Iodinated AlIII‐Based Phthalocyanines are Promising Sensitizers for Dye‐Sensitized Solar Cells; A Theoretical Comparison Between ZnII,MgII, and AlIII‐Based Phthalocyanine Sensitizers

To design efficient dyes for dye‐sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), using a Zn‐coordinated phthalocyanine (TT7) as the prototype, a series of phthalocyanine dyes (Pcs) with different metal ions and peripheral/axial groups have been investigated by means of density functional theory (DFT) and time‐dependent DFT (TDDFT) methods. Computational results show that the iodinated Al‐based dye with a peripheral amino group (Al‐I‐NH₂‐Pc) exhibits the largest redshift in the maximum absorbance (λ_max). In addition, Al‐based dyes have appropriate energy‐level arrangements of frontier orbitals to keep excellent balance between electron injection and regeneration of oxidized dyes. Further, it has been found that the intermolecular π‐staking interaction in Al‐I‐Pc molecules is weaker than the other metal‐based Pcs, which may effectively reduce dye aggregation on the semi‐conductor surface. All these results suggest iodinated Al‐based Pcs (Al‐I‐Pcs) to be potentially promising sensitizers in DSSCs.     

Oligothiophene-containing coumarin dyes for efficient dye-sensitized solar cells

We have developed oligothiophene-containing coumarin dyes fully functionalized for dye-sensitized nanocrystalline TiO(2) solar cells (DSSCs). DSSCs based on the dyes gave good performance in terms of incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency (IPCE) in the range of 400-800 nm. A solar energy-to-electricity conversion efficiency (eta) of 7.4% was obtained with a DSSC based on 2-cyano-3-[5'-(1,1,6,6-tetramethyl-10-oxo-2,3,5,6-tetrahydro-1H,4H,10H-11-oxa-3a-aza-benzo[de]anthracen-9-yl)-[2,2']bithiophenyl-5-yl]acrylic acid (NKX-2677) under simulated AM 1.5G irradiation (100 mW cm(-2)) with a mask: short-circuit current density (J(sc)) = 13.5 mA cm(-2); open-circuit voltage (V(oc)) = 0.71 V; fill factor (FF) = 0.77. Transient absorption spectroscopy measurements indicated that electron injection from NKX-2677 to the conduction band of TiO(2) is very rapid (<100 fs), which is much faster than the emission lifetime of the dye (1.0 ns), giving a highly efficient electron injection yield of near unity.     

DFT and TD-DFT study of benzene and borazines containing chromophores for DSSC materials

In this investigation, we have designed a series of benzene and borazines containing chromophores for employing in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The optimized structures and photo-physical properties of these molecules have been explored by using the density functional theory method (B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p)). These dyes consist of electron-donor (benzene, borazine, fluorinated borazine) and -acceptor/anchoring (tricyanovinyl), connected by the π-conjugated linker as an electron spacer. The Natural Bond Orbital (NBO) analysis has also been employed for studying the origin of charge transfer. The time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) method has also been used to calculate the electronic absorption spectra of these molecules. The maximum absorption wavelengths assign to HOMO → LUMO transition. The electronic coupling constant, electron injection and light harvesting efficiency have been computed by first principle researches. This revealed that the studied molecules would be efficient photosensitizers.     

Starburst triarylamine based dyes for efficient dye-sensitized solar cells

We report here on the synthesis and photophysical/electrochemical properties of a series of novel starburst triarylamine-based organic dyes (S1, S2, S3, and S4) as well as their application in dye-sensitized nanocrystalline TiO2 solar cells (DSSCs). For the four designed dyes, the starburst triarylamine group and the cyanoacetic acid take the role of electron donor and electron acceptor, respectively. It was found that the introduction of starburst triarylamine group to form the D-D-pi-A configuration brought about superior performance over the simple D-pi-A configuration, in terms of bathochromically extended absorption spectra, enhanced molar extinction coefficients and better thermo-stability. Moreover, the HOMO and LUMO energy levels tuning can be conveniently accomplished by alternating the donor moiety, which was confirmed by electrochemical measurements and theoretical calculations. The DSSCs based on the dye S4 showed the best photovoltaic performance: a maximum monochromatic incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency (IPCE) of 85%, a short-circuit photocurrent density (J(sc)) of 13.8 mA cm(-2), an open-circuit photovoltage (V(oc)) of 0.63 V, and a fill factor (ff) of 0.69, corresponding to an overall conversion efficiency of 6.02% under 100 mW cm(-2) irradiation. This work suggests that the dyes based on starburst triphenylamine donor are promising candidates for improvement of the performance of the DSSCs.     

Near infrared thieno[3,4-b]pyrazine sensitizers for efficient quasi-solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells

Three near infrared (NIR) metal-free organic sensitizers (FNE32, FNE34, FNE36) based on the thieno[3,4-b]pyrazine derivative have been designed and synthesized for application in quasi-solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). These organic dyes demonstrate maximum absorption bands at 596-625 nm due to the presence of the thieno[3,4-b]pyrazine derivative, which facilitates the intramolecular electron transfer from the donor to the acceptor. Quasi-solid-state DSSCs based on FNE34 display efficient photoelectric conversion over the whole visible range extending into the NIR region up to 900 nm with maximum incident monochromatic photon-to-electron conversion efficiency (IPCE) of 77%, yielding a short-circuit photocurrent density of 16.24 mA cm(-2) and a power conversion efficiency of 5.30%. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest efficiency for quasi-solid-state DSSCs based on an organic NIR dye. When exposed to one-sun illumination for 1000 h, the quasi-solid-state DSSC based on FNE34 exhibits good long-term stability with almost constant power conversion efficiency.