Triphenylamine–phthalocyanine based sensitizer for sensitization of nanocrystalline TiO2 films

We have designed a new triphenylamine–phthalocyanine based sensitizer (Pc-Org-1) having three bulky triphenylamine groups, which acts as donor and two carboxyl groups, which acts as acceptor as well as servers to graft onto nanocrystalline TiO2. The new sensitizer was fully characterized by CHN, Mass, UV–Vis, fluorescence spectroscopies and cyclic voltammetry. The bulky triphenylamine groups are further reducing the aggregation of phthalocyanine macrocyle. DFT studies indicate that HOMO is delocalized π-electron system of phthalocyanine and LUMO is located on carboxyl groups. The new photosensitizer was tested in dye-sensitized solar cells using a durable redox electrolyte and compared its performance with PCH001.