Synthesis and characterization of a triphenylamine-dibenzosuberenone-based conjugated organic material and an investigation of its photovoltaic properties

3,7-Bis[4-(diphenylamino)phenyl]-5H-dibenzo[a,d][7]annulen-5-one, containing triphenylamine- and dibenzosuberenone-based donor-acceptor-donor (D-A-D) conjugated moieties, is synthesized in high yield by Suzuki coupling of 5H-dibenzo[a,d][7]annulen-5-one with [4-(diphenylamino)phenyl]boronic acid. The most important part of the present study is the creation of a dye-sensitized solar cell structure using the synthesized organic molecule for the first time and the power conversion efficiency of this structure. Three solar cell devices are prepared and are named as first device, second device, and third device. The power conversion efficiency (%) value for first device, second device, and third device is calculated as 2.54, 2.38, and 2.54, respectively. Moreover, the chemical structure of the synthesized compound is determined by nuclear magnetic resonance, infrared, ultraviolet visible, fluorescence spectroscopy, and high-resolution mass spectrometry.

Automated summary

In this study, a novel organic molecule containing D-A-D structure was successfully synthesized and applied to construct a dye-sensitized solar cell structure for the first time, showing promising power conversion efficiency. The chemical structure of the synthesized compound was determined using various spectroscopic techniques. The power conversion efficiency of the solar cell devices was found to be competitive among the three devices tested.