Synthesis of Novel Ruthenium Dyes with Thiophene or Thienothiophene Substituted Terpyridyl Ligands and Their Characterization

We synthesized new materials for dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) which is incorporating highly conjugated π-electron-donating groups, such as thiophene or thieno[3,2-b]thiophene. The synthesized dyes showed similar molar extinction coefficient compared to that of N749. All compounds are analyzed by 1H- and 13C-NMR, and FT-IR spectroscopic measurements. The physical properties of dyes are characterized by UV-vis absorption spectroscopy, cyclic voltamogram and DFT calculation. The power conversion efficiencies (ηeff) of two synthesized dyes were 4.0 and 3.4%, respectively, under AM1.5G light source. The reference cell (N749) was evaluated the ηeff of 6.0% at the same conditions.