Synthesis and Photoelectric Properties of Dye Sensitizers Based on Phenothiazine as Donor

doi:10.7517/j.issn.1674-0475.2018.01.007

Abstract

Abstract: Two organic dyes 2-cyano-3-(5-(7-(10-hexyl-10H-phenothiazin-3-yl)benzo[1,2,5]thiadiazol-4-yl) thiophen-2-yl) acrylic acid(CVBTP)and 2-cyano-3-(5-(10-hexyl-10H-phenothiazin-3-yl)thiophen-2-yl)acrylic acid (CVTP) were designed and synthesized for dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The dyes are based on phenothiazine as donor with D-A-π-A and D-π-A formation, respectively. The effects of the dyes' molecular structure changes on the DSSCs performance were investigated systematically, along with their photophysical and photoelectrochemical properties. The results show that CVBTP which introduced an additional electron-deficient benzothiadiazole unit has lower band gap, larger conjugated system, and its light absorption performance is improved significantly. The HOMO energy levels of CVBTP and CVTP were -4.83 and -4.82 eV, their LUMO energy levels were -2.85 and -2.28 eV, which were matched with common electrolyte I^-/I₃^-(-4.60 eV vs vacuum)and TiO₂ conduction band energy level(-4.40 eV vs vacuum). Both of the dyes are available for DSSCs, but CVTP has a more suitable LUMO energy level and better performance of photovoltaic than CVBTP.

Key words: dye sensitizer, phenothiazine, benzothiadiazole, DSSCs

HUANG Tian, WEI Huaixin, SHEN Jinghua, LIU Yajing, CHENG Hongying, JI Zhongling, ZHAO Xin. Synthesis and Photoelectric Properties of Dye Sensitizers Based on Phenothiazine as Donor[J]. Imaging Science and Photochemistry, 2018, 36(1): 73-81.

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