Indoline dyes with various acceptors for dye-sensitized solar cells

► Four indoline dyes of D102, D131, D149 and Ddmc were designed with different acceptors. ► They were investigated theoretically by using DFT and TDDFT calculations. ► We find that the anchoring group of a dye should be close to its LUMO and have higher electron population for higher conversion efficiency as DSSC device. ► Newly designed Ddmc dye would be a good candidate as a dye sensitizer of DSSCs for its higher absorptivity and the proximity of the anchoring group to the LUMO of the dye.