Influence of different electron acceptors in organic sensitizers on the performance of dye-sensitized solar cells

•Five organic dyes with different electron acceptors were applied in dye-sensitized solar cells.•Cyanoacetic acid proved to be the best electron acceptor in D–π–A dye in improving high cell conversion efficiency.•The device based on sensitizer DPC achieved an efficiency of 4.93% was measured for a solar cell device.

Five kinds of triphenylamine-based organic dyes with different electron acceptors were designed and synthesized as sensitizers for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The photophysical and electrochemical properties of these dyes were investigated and their performance as sensitizers in DSSCs was measured. The dye with cyanoacrylic acid electron acceptor exhibits the highest solar-to-electrical energy conversion efficiency of 4.93% (short-circuit photocurrent density Jsc = 8.59 mA cm−2, open-circuit photovoltage Voc = 0.77 V, and fill factor ff = 0.75) under 100 mW cm−2-simulated AM 1.5 G solar irradiation.

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