Photovoltage Improvement for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells via Cone-Shaped Structural Design

In this article, three truexene-based dyes with 2-cyanoacrylic acid as acceptor and starburst triarylamine as donor (S5, S6, and S7) were conveniently synthesized and used for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). A compact sensitizer layer is molecular interfacially engineered on the TiO2 surface via cone-shaped sensitizers. As a result, the approach of the electrolyte to the TiO2 surface is blocked significantly by the compact sensitizer layer formed and the charge recombination in the DSSCs is proved to be retarded effectively. The monochromatic incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency of these sensitizers is near 90%. In addition, S7-sensitized solar cells yield an open-circuit voltage of 752 mV and it fill factor of 0.70, which are even higher than those of N719 under the same conditions.