Synthesis, characterization and photovoltaic properties of di-anchoring organic dyes

Three new organic dyes comprising carbazole, iminodibenzyl and phenothiazine moieties, as electron donors and di-anchoring rhodanine rings as the electron acceptors, were synthesized and evaluated for use in dye-sensitized solar cells. A solar cell employing dye-containing phenothiazine as a hole-transporting unit and di-anchoring rhodanine rings as the electron acceptors exhibits a short circuit photocurrent density of 10.6 mA cm ^-2, an open-circuit voltage of 0.658 V and a fill factor of 0.7, corresponding to an overall conversion efficiency of 4.91% at standard AM 1.5 sunlight.