Study of an indoline–phenothiazine based organic dye for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells. Theoretical calculations and experimental data

•A new indoline–phenothiazine based organic dye.•Theoretical calculations and experimental data.•Application to Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells.•Satisfactory efficiency amounting to 7.2%.•Importance of the addition of chenodeoxycholic acid.

A new donor-π-acceptor organic dye based on an indoline–phenothiazine combination (denoted, VG12) was synthesized and studied as sensitizer of nanoparticulate titania in standard Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells. Theoretical calculations gave the profile of the dye, which was verified by spectrometric measurements. The energy levels of the dye are located at −3.5 eV and −5.5 eV for its LUMO and HOMO levels, respectively. The efficiency of solar cells constructed with this new dye was measured in comparison with equivalent constructions based on the standard ruthenium dye N719. The obtained efficiency was 7.2% in the case of VG12 and 9.3% in the case of N719. The reported data also show the very important effect that the additive chenodeoxycholic acid has on the performance of the solar cell.

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