title: Rational molecular engineering of cyclopentadithiophene-bridged D-A-π-A sensitizers combining high photovoltaic efficiency with rapid dye adsorption.
abstract: Dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) is considered as a feasible route to the clean and renewable energy conversion technique. The commercial application requires further enhancements on photovoltaic efficiency and simplification on the device fabrication. For avoiding the unpreferable trade-off between photocurrent (JSC) and photovoltage (VOC), here we report the molecular engineering and comprehensive photovoltaic characterization of three cyclopentadithiophene-bridged D-A-π-A motif sensitizers with a change in donor group. We make a careful choice on the donor and conjugation bridge for synergistically increasing JSC and VOC. Comparing with the reference dye WS-2, the photovoltaic efficiency with the single component dye of WS-51 increases by 18%, among one of the rare examples in pure metal-free organic dyes exceeding 10% in combination with traditional iodine redox couples. Moreover, WS-51 exhibits several prominent merits on potentially scale-up industrial application: i) facile synthetic route to target molecule, ii) simple dipping procedure without requirement of co-sensitization, and iii) rapid dye adsorption capability.
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Key Laboratory of Functional Materials Chemistry, Key Laboratory for Advanced Materials and Institute of Fine Chemicals, Collaborative Innovation Center for Coal Based Energy (i-CCE), East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Qipeng
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Chai
authors.affiliation: 1] Shanghai Key Laboratory of Functional Materials Chemistry, Key Laboratory for Advanced Materials and Institute of Fine Chemicals, Collaborative Innovation Center for Coal Based Energy (i-CCE), East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, P. R. China [2] School of Urban Development and Environmental Engineering, Shanghai Second Polytechnic University, Shanghai 201209, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Wenqin
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Key Laboratory of Functional Materials Chemistry, Key Laboratory for Advanced Materials and Institute of Fine Chemicals, Collaborative Innovation Center for Coal Based Energy (i-CCE), East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Jingchuan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Gansu Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Key Laboratory of Eco-environment-related Polymer Materials, Ministry of Education, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou, Gansu 730070, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Zhiyuan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Geng
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Key Laboratory of Functional Materials Chemistry, Key Laboratory for Advanced Materials and Institute of Fine Chemicals, Collaborative Innovation Center for Coal Based Energy (i-CCE), East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, P. R. China.
authors.forename: He
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Key Laboratory of Functional Materials Chemistry, Key Laboratory for Advanced Materials and Institute of Fine Chemicals, Collaborative Innovation Center for Coal Based Energy (i-CCE), East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Wei-Hong
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Zhu