Molecules (Apr 2020)

Push–Pull Zinc Phthalocyanine Bearing Hexa-Tertiary Substituted Carbazolyl Donor Groups for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

  • Basma Ghazal,
  • Kobra Azizi,
  • Ewies F. Ewies,
  • Ahmed S. A. Youssef,
  • Valid Mwatati Mwalukuku,
  • Renaud Demadrille,
  • Tomás Torres,
  • Saad Makhseed

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules25071692
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 25, no. 7
p. 1692

Abstract

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An asymmetrical, push–pull phthalocyanine bearing bulky tert-butylcarbazolyl moieties as electron donor and carboxylic acid as anchoring group was synthetized and tested as a photosensitizer in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC). The new photosensitizer was characterized by 1H and 13C NMR, UV–Vis and mass spectrometry. The bulky tert-butylcarbazolyl moieties avoid the aggregation of the phthalocyanine dye. DFT studies indicate that the HOMO is delocalized throughout the -electron system of the substituted phthalocyanine and the LUMO is located on the core of the molecule with a sizable electron density distribution on carboxyl groups. The new dye has been used as a photosensitizer in transparent and opaque dye-sensitized solar cells, which exhibit poor efficiencies related to a low Jsc.

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