Diketopyrrolopyrrole derivatives for efficient NiO-based dye-sensitized solar cells

Two new diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP) based sensitizers (DPP-Br, DPPCN2) and a novel dyad DPP-NDI (NDI = naphthalene diimide) were synthesized and investigated for use in NiO p-type dye-sensitized solar cells (p-DSCs). The simple push-pull DPP-CN2 gives a promising photoconversion efficiency (PCE) of 0.07% with the iodide/triiodide electrolyte while the PCE of the dyad reaches 0.18% with a cobalt complex as a redox shuttle.