Influence of different electron acceptors in organic sensitizers on the performance of dye-sensitized solar cells

Five kinds of triphenylamine-based organic dyes with different electron acceptors were designed and synthesized as sensitizers for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The photophysical and electrochemical properties of these dyes were investigated and their performance as sensitizers in DSSCs was measured. The dye with cyanoacrylic acid electron acceptor exhibits the highest solar-to-electrical energy conversion efficiency of 4.93% (short-circuit photocurrent density J sc = 8.59 mA cm −2 , open-circuit photovoltage V oc = 0.77 V, and fill factor ff = 0.75) under 100 mW cm −2 -simulated AM 1.5 G solar irradiation.