Synergistic behaviour of silatrane functionalized perylene diimide dye and carbon quantum dots for enhancing photovoltaic performance

Perylene based dyes have been explored for their exceptional optical and conducting properties for the past few decades and have found applications in organic electronics. In recent years, quantum dots (QD) derived from carbonaceous materials have gained prominence for their multidisciplinary applications. In the present work, we have proposed a novel architecture of a Dye Sensitized Solar Cell (DSSC) in which the photo-anodic layer of mesoporous TiO2 is co-sensitized with Carbon QD followed by a novel perylene diimide (PDI) sensitizer having silatrane anchor group (PDIST). The structure of the synthesized silatrane-ended PDI was characterized using spectroscopic techniques. Further, the structure was optimized us-ing the DFT-B3LYP/6-31G level of theory. The fabricated DSSC showed eleven folds increase in efficiency when compared to only PDIST sensitized solar cell which concludes the synergistic interaction of CQD and PDIST dye. Owing to such remarkable properties, this setup of co-sensitization may open up new avenues in the realm of sensitized solar cells. (c) 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

A novel architecture of a Dye Sensitized Solar Cell (DSSC) was proposed, in which the photo-anodic layer of mesoporous TiO2 was co-sensitized with Carbon QD and a novel perylene diimide sensitizer with silatrane anchor group. The structure of the synthesized silatrane-ended perylene diimide was characterized and optimized using spectroscopic techniques and theoretical calculations. The fabricated DSSC showed an eleven-fold increase in efficiency compared to the solar cell sensitized with only the perylene diimide dye, indicating the synergistic interaction of Carbon QD and perylene diimide dye. This co-sensitization setup may open up new avenues in the field of sensitized solar cells.