Co-sensitization of 4-(thiophene-2-ylmethylene)thiazolidin-5-one dyes with Ru(II) complex N-719

Five novel co-sensitizers IS-8 to IS-12 were synthesized to study their effect on the co-sensitization with standard Ru(II) dye (N-719). These effective co-sensitizers (IS-8 to IS-12) include 3-phenyl-4-(thiophen-2-ylmethylene)thiazolidin-5-one linked with malononitrile (IS-8), ethyl cyanoacetate (IS-9), 2-cyano-N-phenylacetamide (IS-10), 4-(2-cyanoacetamido)benzoic acid (IS-11), and 2-cyano-N-(4-nitrophenyl)acetamide (IS-12). From the obtained results, all co-sensitizers possess thermodynamic requirements for dye-sensitized solar cell applications (DSSCs). Their photovoltaic studies were evaluated through the device fabrication. Over co-sensitization with N-719, all co-sensitizers enhance the photovoltage of N-719. Further, N-719 co-sensitized with IS-11 and IS-12 performed power conversion efficiency of 8.32% and 8.09%, respectively, higher than N-719 only, which performed 7.74% only. The higher photovoltaic performance of these co-sensitizers may be attributed to maximum J(SC) values. The results ameliorate the role of efficient co-sensitizers to yield DSSC with improved performance.

Automated summary

Five novel co-sensitizers were synthesized and studied for their co-sensitization effect with standard Ru(II) dye (N-719) in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Among them, IS-11 and IS-12 showed the highest power conversion efficiencies of 8.32% and 8.09%, respectively, when co-sensitized with N-719. This improved performance can be attributed to their maximum J(SC) values, indicating the importance of efficient co-sensitizers in enhancing DSSC performance.