Synthesis and photophysical properties of donor-acceptor system based bipyridylporphyrins for dye-sensitized solar cells

Bipyridylporphyrin derivatives possessing a porphyrin moiety as the electron donor and bipyridyl moiety as the electron-acceptor were designed and synthesized for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The photophysical and electrochemical properties were investigated by absorption spectrometry and cyclic voltammetry. Density functional theory (DFT) was employed to study electron distribution. From the photovoltaic performance measurements, a maximum conversion efficiency (eta) of 0.38% was achieved based on the bipyridylporphyrin ruthenium dye A7 (J(SC) = 1.33 mA/cm(2), V-OC = 0.45 V, FF = 0.64) under 1.5 irradiation (100 mW/cm(2)). (C) 2015 Science Press and Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics. All rights reserved.