Novel cyanine dyes with multi-carboxyl groups and their sensitization on nanocrystalline TiO2 electrode

Three novel cyanine dyes containing multi-carboxyl groups and triphenylamine have been synthesized and were used to sensitize nanocrystalline TiO2 electrode. The cyanine dyes were characterized with IR, H-1 NMR and UV-vis. The amount of the dyes adsorbed on the electrode affects the photoelectrochemical properties. The short-circuit photocurrent of the cyanine dye adsorbed efficiently reaches 13.8 mA-cm(-2) and the overall energy conversion efficiency is 2.12%.