Synthesis of novel pyridinium based compounds and their possible application in dye-sensitized solar cells

Abstract

Five novel D-π-A structured pyridinium based compounds, bearing different electron-donating units were synthesized, minutely characterized, and their solvatochromic and electronic properties were investigated. Subsequently, these compounds were added to a liquid electrolyte in order to enhance the photovoltaic performance of the N719-sensitized solar cell. It was demonstrated that the utilization of all compounds improved the conversion efficiency, compared to the reference solar cell comprised of plain liquid electrolyte. The photovoltaic performance of the fabricated DSSC depended of the electron-donating moiety of the synthesized compound. The highest photovoltaic conversion efficiency of 4.11% was obtained for DSSC with the compound bearing the 4-(N,N-dimethylamino)phenyl group.