Organic Dyes Containing Fluorene Decorated with Imidazole Units for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells
2014
Kumar, Dhirendra | Justin Thomas, K. R. | Lee, Chuan-Pei | Ho, Kuo-Chuan
New organic dyes containing fluorene functionalized with two imidazole chromophores as donors and cyanoacrylic acid acceptors have been synthesized and successfully demonstrated as sensitizers in nanocrystalline TiO₂-based dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The monoimidazole analogues were also synthesized for comparison. The Sommelet reaction of bromomethylated 2-bromo-9,9-diethyl-9H-fluorene produced the key precursor 7-bromo-9,9-diethyl-9H-fluorene-2,4-dicarbaldehyde required for the preparation of imidazole-functionalized fluorenes. Since the dyes possess weak donor segment, the electron-richness of the conjugation pathway dictated the optical, electrochemical, and photovoltaic properties of the dyes. The dyes served as sensitizers in DSSC and exhibited moderate efficiency up to 3.44%. The additional imidazole present on the fluorene has been found to retard the electron recombination due to the bulkier hydrophobic environment and led to high open-circuit voltage in the devices.
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