Acta Phys. -Chim. Sin. ›› 2016, Vol. 32 ›› Issue (12): 2968-2975.doi: 10.3866/PKU.WHXB201609194

• ARTICLE • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Synthesis of a Novel D-π-A-π-A Organic Sensitizer and Its Application in a Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell and Dye-Sensitized Photocatalytic H2 Production

An XIAO1,Hui LU1,Yang ZHAO1,Geng-Geng LUO1,2,*()   

  1. 1 College of Materials Science and Engineering, Huaqiao University, Xiamen 361021, Fujian Province, P. R. China
    2 State Key Laboratory of Structural Chemistry, Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Fuzhou 350002, P. R. China
  • Received:2016-08-22 Published:2016-11-30
  • Contact: Geng-Geng LUO E-mail:ggluo@hqu.edu.cn
  • Supported by:
    The project was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(21201066);Natural Science Foundation of Fujian Province, China(2015J01053,2011J01047);and Program for New Century Excellent Talents in Fujian Province Universities, China(Z1525081)

Abstract:

A novel metal-free D-π-A-π-A-based organic sensitizer OD2 featuring a N,N'-dimethylaniline unit as the donor residue, acetylene and benzene groups as π-spacer units, and benzothiadiazole and cyanoacrylic acid residues as acceptor units, was designed and synthesized. After the spectra and electrochemistry of the organic dye were investigated, it was applied in the development of solar energy conversion, including dyesensitized solar cell (DSSC) and dye-sensitized photocatalytic H2 production. For a typical device based on OD2, a maximum power conversion efficiency (η) of 4.40% was obtained under simulated AM 1.5 irradiation (100 mW·cm-2) with Jsc=10.58 mA·cm-2, Voc=630 mV and FF=0.65. In comparison, the efficiency of photocatalytic H2 production by OD2 sensitized Pt/TiO2 is low with a TON (turnover number)=140 and quantum efficiency for H2 conversion of water (ΦH2)=0.42% under visible light irradiation for 10 h with a 300 W Xe-lamp light source and 10% (volume fraction) aqueous triethanolamine (TEOA) at pH 7.0. The above results showed that OD2 has greater potential in the light-to-electricity conversion than light-to-fuel conversion.

Key words: Photoelectric property, Hydrogen production, Organic sensitizer, D-π-A-π-A configuration