New fluorenone-containing organic photosensitizers for dye-sensitized solar cells

Four new organic dyes (F1-F4) comprising the triarylamine or fluorene unit as an electron-donating group, a less commonly used fluorenone spacer and a cyanoacrylic acid as the anchoring group in the molecular framework were synthesized, characterized and utilized in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Their absorption, photoluminescence, electrochemical and photovoltaic properties were fully investigated in detail. Electrochemical data indicate that the tuning of the HOMO and LUMO energy levels can be conveniently accomplished by alternating the donor moiety. The photovoltaic performance can be increased by adding an electron-donating triarylamine or fluorene unit next to the fluorenone ring or increasing the number of thienyl ring next to the cyanoacrylic acid group, which is consistent with the results from electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The maximal monochromatic incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency (IPCE) can reach up to 80% for DSSC devices based on F4 with the overall light to electricity conversion efficiency up to 4.71% (V_oc = 565 mV, J_sc = 11.71 mA cm^-2 and FF = 0.71) under AM 1.5 irradiation (100 mW cm^-2).