Effect of extended π-conjugation on photovoltaic performance of dye sensitized solar cells based on unsymmetrical squaraine dyes

Aiming toward the far-red to near infra-red (NIR) photon harvesting, three new unsymmetrical squaraine dyes bearing direct ring carboxy functionalized indole as an anchoring moiety with varying donor groups with extended π-conjugation have been successfully synthesized and utilized for dye sensitized solar cell fabrication. Under simulated solar irradiation, dye SQ-8 gave a photoconversion efficiency of 3.3% mainly harvesting photons in the far-red region between 500 and 700 nm. By extending the π-conjugation of the donor moieties in the novel unsymmetrical squaraine dyes, it was possible to extend the light absorption from far-red to NIR wavelength region. In spite of good light absorption up to 900 nm and energetic matching, dye SQ-16 was found to exhibit the decreased photon harvesting, which was explained by the enhanced dye aggregation along with its difficulty in facile electron injection as indicated from electronic absorption spectroscopic and DFT calculation results, respectively.