Effect of triptycene unit on the performance of porphyrin-based dye-sensitized solar cells

Triptycene has been first introduced into porphyrin sensitizers (JY74 and JY75) for dye sensitized solar cells. Compared to reference dye YD26, the homoaromatic electron delocalization of triptycene makes the designed dyes a broadened absorption. Meanwhile, the rigid shape-persistent character of triptycene endows JY74 and JY75 an improved ability to diminish the charge recombination between electrolyte and semiconductor TiO2. As a result, after structural modification, larger short-circuit current and higher open-circuit voltage are achieved for dyes JY74 and JY75. The power conversion efficiency of JY75 is increased by 26.8 % compared to that of YD26. Consequently, triptycene may be a promising bulky steric hindrance group for decorating photosensitizer to get an attractive photovoltaic performance.

Automated summary

By introducing triptycene into porphyrin sensitizers, the designed dyes exhibit broadened absorption and improved ability to diminish charge recombination, resulting in higher power conversion efficiency.