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.     

给电子基团对吲哚染料电子结构和吸收光谱的影响

利用密度泛函理论(DFT)和含时密度泛函理论(TD-DFT), 分别基于B3LYP和PBE1PBE方法研究了一系列含有不同给电子基团的吲哚染料分子(ID1-ID3)的电子结构和吸收光谱性质. 重点比较了不同电子给体对染料的分子结构、吸收光谱以及其在电池中的光伏性能的影响. 结果表明从ID1、ID2到ID3, 随着电子给体中苯环数目的增加, 吲哚分子上的共轭效应逐渐增大, 导致吲哚分子最高占据分子轨道-最低未占据分子轨道(HOMO-LUMO)之间的能隙变窄, 分子的吸收光谱发生红移. 染料分子的吸收光谱和LUMO能级分别影响染料的吸光效率和光电转化过程中电子的注入过程, 从而使其二者成为决定电池光伏性能的重要参数. 综合考虑上述两个参数对电池性能的贡献, 通过理论研究证实, 在ID1-ID3系列染料中, ID3具有较长的吸收谱带、较大的分子消光系数和合适的LUMO能级, 从而表现出最为优越的光伏性能, 这与实验得出的结论很好地吻合.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

Red shifting of absorption maxima of phenothiazine based dyes by incorporating electron-deficient thiadiazole derivatives as π-spacer

This study was carried out to design phenothiazine based dyes by incorporating electron-deficient thiadiazole derivatives as π-spacer. Density functional theory and time-dependent density functional theory calculations of the geometries, electronic structures and absorption spectra of the dyes before and after binding to titanium oxide were carried out. Effects of the electron-deficient units on the spectra and electrochemical properties have been investigated. Compared with the reference compound CS1A, Dyes 1–4 display remarkably enhanced spectral responses in the red portion of the solar spectrum. The newly designed dyes demonstrate desirable energetic and spectroscopic parameters, and may lead to efficient metal-free organic dye sensitizers for DSSCs.     

二氢吲哚类染料用于染料敏化太阳能电池光敏剂的比较

采用密度泛函理论(DFT)和含时密度泛函理论(TD-DFT)对四种二氢吲哚染料进行研究, 从中筛选出相对优秀的染料敏化太阳能电池光敏剂. 对前线分子轨道的计算表明, 二氢吲哚染料的前线分子轨道结构非常有利于染料激发态向TiO2电极的电子注入. 对真空中的紫外和可见光吸收光谱的计算表明, 二氢吲哚染料的吸收光谱与太阳辐射光谱匹配较好. 对染料分子的能级计算表明, 二氢吲哚染料的能级结构比较适合于I-/I-3作电解液的TiO2纳米晶太阳能电池的光敏剂. 二氢吲哚染料最低未占据分子轨道(LUMO) 能级均比TiO2晶体导带边能级高, 能够保证激发态染料分子高效地向TiO2电极转移电子. 二氢吲哚染料最高占据分子轨道(HOMO)的能级比I-/I-3能级低, 保证了失去电子的染料分子能够顺利地从电解液中得到电子. 与实验数据比较, 得出在提高染料敏化太阳能电池转换效率方面, 对染料的关键要求是LUMO能级的位置. 染料分子的稳定性是染料敏化太阳能电池使用寿命的关键因素. 通过对化学键键长的比较表明, 二氢吲哚染料的分子稳定性基本相同. 对计算结果的分析表明, 二氢吲哚染料1(ID1)的LUMO能级最高, 分子稳定性最好, 在酒精溶液中的吸收光谱与太阳辐射光谱匹配很好, 在同类染料中是较好的染料敏化太阳能电池光敏剂.     

Influence of surface-attachment functionality on the aggregation, persistence, and electron-transfer reactivity of chalcogenorhodamine dyes on TiO2

Chalcogenorhodamine dyes bearing phosphonic acids and carboxylic acids were compared as sensitizers of nanocrystalline TiO(2) in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The dyes were constructed around a 3,6-bis(dimethylamino)chalcogenoxanthylium core and varied in the 9 substituent: 5-carboxythien-2-yl in dyes 1-E (E = O, Se), 4-carboxyphenyl in dyes 2-E (E = O, S), 5-phosphonothien-2-yl in dyes 3-E (E = O, Se), and 4-phosphonophenyl in dyes 4-E (E = O, Se). All dyes adsorbed to TiO(2) as mixtures of H aggregates and monomers, which exhibited broadened absorption spectra relative to those of purely amorphous monolayers. Surface coverages of dyes and the extent of H aggregation varied minimally with the surface-attachment functionality, the structure of the 9-aryl group, and the identity of the chalcogen heteroatom. Carboxylic acid-functionalized dyes 1-E and 2-E desorbed rapidly and completely from TiO(2) into acidified CH(3)CN, but phosphonic acid-functionalized dyes 3-E and 4-E persisted on TiO(2) for days. Short-circuit photocurrent action spectra of DSSCs corresponded closely to the absorptance spectra of dye-functionalized films; thus, H aggregation did not decrease the electron-injection yield or charge-collection efficiency. Maximum monochromatic incident photon-to-current efficiencies (IPCEs) of DSSCs ranged from 53 to 95% and were slightly higher for carboxylic acid-functionalized dyes 1-E and 2-E. Power-conversion efficiencies of DSSCs under white-light illumination were low (<1%), suggesting that dye regeneration was inefficient at high light intensities. The photoelectrochemical performance (under monochromatic or white-light illumination) of 1-E and 2-E decayed significantly within 20-80 min of the assembly of DSSCs, primarily because of the desorption of the dyes. In contrast, the performance of phosphonic acid-functionalized dyes remained stable or improved slightly on similar timescales. Thus, replacing carboxylic acids with phosphonic acids increased the inertness of chalcogenorhodamine-TiO(2) interfaces without greatly impacting the aggregation of dyes or the interfacial electron-transfer reactivity.     

Dipolar Compounds Containing Fluorene and a Heteroaromatic Ring as the Conjugating Bridge for High‐Performance Dye‐Sensitized Solar Cells

A novel series of dipolar organic dyes containing diarylamine as the electron donor, 2‐cyanoacrylic acid as the electron acceptor, and fluorene and a heteroaromatic ring as the conjugating bridge have been developed and characterized. These metal‐free dyes exhibited very high molar extinction coefficients in the electronic absorption spectra and have been successfully fabricated as efficient nanocrystalline TiO₂ dye‐sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The solar‐energy‐to‐electricity conversion efficiencies of DSSCs ranged from 4.92 to 6.88 %, which reached 68–96 % of a standard device of N719 fabricated and measured under the same conditions. With a TiO₂ film thickness of 6 μm, DSSCs based on these dyes had photocurrents surpassing that of the N719‐based device. DFT computation results on these dyes also provide detailed structural information in connection with their high cell performance.     

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.     

Theoretical studies on triaryamine‐based p‐type D‐D‐π‐A sensitizer

Development of triaryamine‐based nonmetallic dye sensitizers is a hot topic in the solar cell research. A series of triaryamine‐based dyes WS1 – WS7 were designed with W1 as the prototype. Density functional theory (DFT) and time‐dependent‐DFT calculations were used to investigate the effects of the attached donor D on the absorption spectra and electronic properties of the dyes. The light‐harvesting efficiency (LHE), hole injection force (ΔG_inj), dye regeneration force (ΔG_reg), and charge recombination force (ΔG_CR) for all the dyes were predicted. The insertion of D not only results in a red shift in the absorption spectra for all dyes but also achieves a broader absorption for visible light. Compared with that of the prototype, the absorption peak of the dye WS7 has a red shift of 95 nm and an oscillator strength increase of 29%. The absorption peak of WS7 is wider and stronger, and the absorption range extends to 900 nm. The LHE and ΔG_reg values of WS7 are 0.991 and ?1.49 eV, respectively. On overall evaluation, WS7 is a promising candidate of a p‐type dye sensitizer with good light absorption and dye regeneration efficiency.     

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.     

Zirconium((IV)) and Hafnium((IV)) Porphyrin and Phthalocyanine Complexes as New Dyes for Solar Cell Devices

Metalloporphyrin and metallophthalocyanine dyes ligating Hf(IV) and Zr(IV) ions bind to semiconductor oxide surfaces such as TiO(2) via the protruding group IV metal ions. The use of oxophylic metal ions with large ionic radii that protrude from the macrocycle is a unique mode of attaching chromophores to oxide surfaces in the design of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Our previous report on the structure and physical properties of ternary complexes wherein the Hf(IV) and Zr(IV) ions are ligated to both a porphyrinoid and to a defect site on a polyoxometalate (POM) represents a model for this new way of binding dyes to oxide surfaces. The Zr(IV) and Hf(IV) complexes of 5,10,15,20-tetraphenylporphyrin (TPP) with two ligated acetates, (TPP)Hf(OAc)(2) and (TPP)Zr(OAc)(2), and the corresponding metallophthalocyanine (Pc) diacetate complexes, (Pc)Hf(OAc)(2) and (Pc)Zr(OAc)(2), were evaluated as novel dyes for the fabrication of dye-sensitized solar cells. Similarly to the ternary complexes with the POM, the oxide surface replaces the acetates to affect binding. In DSSCs the Zr(IV) phthalocyanine dye performs better than the Zr(IV) porphyrin dye, and reaches an overall efficiency of ~ 1.0%. The Hf(IV) dyes are less efficient. The photophysical properties of these complexes in solution suggested energetically favorable injection of electrons into the conduction band of TiO(2) semiconductor nanoparticles, as well as a good band gap match with I(3) (-)/I(-) pair in liquid 1-butyl-3-methyl imidazolium iodide. The combination of blue absorbing TPP with the red absorbing Pc complexes can increase the absorbance of solar light in the device; however, the overall conversion efficiency of DSSCs using TiO(2) nanoparticles treated with a mixture of both Zr(IV) complexes is comparable, but not greater than, the single (Pc)Zr. Thus, surface bound (TPP)Zr increases the absorbance in blue region of the spectra, but at the cost of diminished absorbance in the red in this DSSC architecture.     

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.     

The effect of conjugated spacer on novel carbazole derivatives for dye‐sensitized solar cells: Density functional theory/time‐dependent density functional theory study

The ground‐state structure and frontier molecular orbital of D‐π‐A organic dyes, CFT1A, CFT2A, and CFT1PA were theoretically investigated using density functional theory (DFT) on B3LYP functional with 6‐31G(d,p) basis set. The vertical excitation energies and absorption spectra were obtained using time‐dependent DFT (TD‐DFT). The adsorptions of these dyes on TiO₂ anatase (101) were carried out by using a 38[TiO₂] cluster model using Perdew–Burke–Ernzerhof functional with the double numerical basis set with polarization (DNP). The results showed that the introduction of thiophene–thiophene unit (T–T) as conjugated spacer in CFT2A could affect the performance of intramolecular charge transfer significantly due to the inter‐ring torsion of T–T being decreased compared with phenylene–phenylene (P–P) spacer of CFP2A in the researhcers' previous report. It was also found that increasing the number of π‐conjugated unit gradually enhanced charge separation between the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) of these dyes, leading to a high‐efficiency photocurrent generation. The HOMO–LUMO energy gaps were calculated to be 2.51, 2.37, and 2.50 eV for CFT1A, CFT2A, and CFT1PA respectively. Moreover, the calculated adsorption energies of these dyes on TiO₂ cluster were ～14 kcal/mol, implying that these dyes strongly bind to TiO₂ surface. Furthermore, the electronic HOMO and LUMO shapes of all dye–TiO₂ complexes exhibited injection mechanism of electron via intermolecular charge‐transfer transition. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Electronic, optical, and charge transfer properties of donor–bridge–acceptor hydrazone sensitizers

The ground state geometries have been computed by using density functional theory (DFT) at B3LYP/6-31G*, B3LYP/6-31G**, and PCM-B3LYP/6-31G* level of theories. The highest occupied molecular orbitals (HOMOs) are delocalized on whole of the molecule and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbitals (LUMOs) are localized on the tricarbonitrile. The lowest HOMO and LUMO energies have been observed for Dye1 while highest for Dye4. The LUMO energies of Dye1–Dye4 are above the conduction band of TiO₂ and HOMOs are below the redox couple. The absorption spectra have been computed in solvent (methanol) and without solvent by using time-dependant DFT at TD-B3LYP/6-31G*, TD-B3LYP/6-31G**, and PCM-TD-B3LYP/6-31G* level of theories. The calculated maximum absorption wavelengths of the spectra in methanol are in good agreement with experimental evidences. The maximum absorption wavelengths of new designed sensitizers are red shifted compared to parent molecule. The electronic coupling constant and electron injection have been computed by first principle investigations. The improved electronic coupling constant and electron injection revealed that new modeled systems would be efficient sensitizers.     

Low‐Symmetry Ω‐Shaped Zinc Phthalocyanine Sensitizers with Panchromatic Light‐Harvesting Properties for Dye‐Sensitized Solar Cells

Two low‐symmetry phthalocyanines (Pcs) substituted with thiophene units at the non‐peripheral (α) and peripheral (β) positions were synthesized and their optical, electronic‐structure, and electrochemical properties were investigated. The substitution of thiophene units at the α positions of the phthalocyanine skeleton resulted in a red shift of the Q band and significantly modified the molecular‐orbital electronic distributions just below the HOMO and just above the LUMO, with distortion of the typical Gouterman four‐orbital arrangement of MOs. Two amphiphilic Ω‐shaped ZnPcs ( αPcS1 and αPcS2 ) bearing a π‐conjugated side chain with an adsorption site at an α position of the Pc macrocycle were synthesized as sensitizers for dye‐sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The absorption spectra of αPcS1 and αPcS2 showed red shifted Q bands and a broad band from 350 to 550 nm assignable to the intramolecular charge‐transfer transition from the ZnPc core to the side chains. Time‐dependent DFT calculations provided a clear interpretation of the effect of the thiophene conjugation on the typical phthalocyanine core π MOs. Compound αPcS1 was used as a light‐harvesting dye on a TiO₂ electrode for a DSSC, which showed a panchromatic response in the range 400–800 nm with a power conversion efficiency of 5.5 % under one‐sun conditions.     

Unsymmetric Platinum(II) Bis(aryleneethynylene) Complexes as Photosensitizers for Dye‐Sensitized Solar Cells

Four new unsymmetric platinum(II) bis(aryleneethynylene) derivatives have been designed and synthesized, which showed good light‐harvesting capabilities for application as photosensitizers in dye‐sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The absorption, electrochemical, time‐dependent density functional theory (TD‐DFT), impedance spectroscopic, and photovoltaic properties of these platinum(II)‐based sensitizers have been fully characterized. The optical and TD‐DFT studies show that the incorporation of a strongly electron‐donating group significantly enhances the absorption abilities of the complexes. The maximum absorption wavelength of these four organometallic dyes can be tuned by various structural modifications of the triphenylamine and/or thiophene electron donor, improving the light absorption range up to 650 nm. The photovoltaic performance of these dyes as photosensitizers in mesoporous TiO₂ solar cells was investigated, and a power conversion efficiency as high as 1.57 % was achieved, with an open‐circuit voltage of 0.59 V, short‐circuit current density of 3.63 mA cm^?2, and fill factor of 0.73 under simulated AM 1.5G solar illumination.     

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.