An investigation of the role increasing π-conjugation has on the efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells fabricated from ferrocene-based dyes

In this article, we report the synthesis of new ferrocene incorporating dyes and their evaluation as sensitizers for dye-sensitized solar cells. We have shown that the sequential addition of alkyne units as π-spacers plays an important role in modulating their solution optical and redox properties. Likewise, the most extensively conjugated dye ( Fc-D3 ) provided the highest power conversion efficiency ( η ) compared to the other less-conjugated dyes in the series. We have also demonstrated that the choice of electrolyte is important in determining η for this series of dyes. A series of ferrocene-based dyes have been prepared and dye-sensitized solar cells have been fabricated.