Novel ruthenium sensitizer with multiple butadiene equivalent thienyls as conjugation on ancillary ligand for dye-sensitized solar cells

A novel ruthenium sensitizer coded as MC102 with four butadiene equivalent thienyl rings on the phenyl spacer of the ancillary bipyridine has been synthesized and the DSSC test cell constructed with 0.23 cm2 active area photoelectrode exhibited broader Incident Photon to Current conversion Efficiency (IPCE) spectrum with power conversion efficiency (η) of 4.42%. The thienyl rings served as excellent extended conjugation for high molar extinction coefficient and red shift the MLCT band while providing aromatic stability to the complex. The four long alkyl chains help dilute the density of the carbon content and facilitate the solubility of the complex.