Conjugation Effects of Styryl Versus Heterocyclic π -Linker on Triphenylamine-based Dyes in Dye-sensitized Solar Cells

Background: Dye-sensitized solar cells have received attention recently for efficient converting sunlight to electricity. Organic dyes provide a feasible alternative due to the practical advantages, such as facile structure tuning, easy synthesis process, and low cost. Organic sensitizers are generally designed to link the electron donor and the electron acceptor. When light irradiated on the dyes, these dipolar molecules induce intramolecular charge transfer from the donor to the acceptor, and the electron is then injected into TiO2 via the anchoring groups (carboxylic acids). Keywords: Dye-sensitized solar cells; donor-π-acceptor linker; triphenylamine; styrene; N-methylpyrrole.