Synthesis and electron-transfer properties of benzimidazole-functionalized ruthenium complexes for highly efficient dye-sensitized solar cells

Novel heteroleptic ruthenium complexes--RD1, RD5, RD10 and RD11--with ligands based on benzimidazole were synthesized and characterized for application to dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC); the remarkable performance of RD5-based DSSC is understood for its superior light-harvesting ability and slower charge-recombination kinetics.