Macrocyclic triphenylamine based organic dyes for efficient dye-sensitized solar cells

A novel class of organic D-π-A dyes employing macrocyclic triphenylamine dimer as electron donor was designed and synthesized for dye-sensitized solar cells. The prepared compounds showed high chemical and elelctrochemical stabilities as well as good long-wave absorption. Photovoltaic devices based on these dyes showed high open circuit voltage (higher than that of N3) and achieved a solar energy to electricity conversion efficiency of 6.31%. All the performances indicate the dyes containing macrocyclic triphenylamine dimer is a good candidate for dyes sensitized solar cells.