Quantum study on the optoelectronic properties and chemical reactivity of phenoxazine-based organic photosensitizer for solar cell purposes

Meeting the requirements and developments of modern society will be unachievable without a sustainable source of energy. However, dye sensitized solar cell (DSSC) has been found worthy to produce reliable energy source. Recently, researchers have inputted great effort toward the modulation of organic dyes to achieve highly efficient dye sensitizers for solar cell purposes. Herein, D-π-A architectural design was employed to generate ten phenoxazine-based dye engineered with five different thiophene π-linkers and two acceptor units. Density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT were used to optimize the molecules in order to cognize their intramolecular charge transport, optoelectronic properties, light-harvesting efficiency (LHE) and open-circuit voltage ( V oc ). DFT conceptual was engaged to elucidate the chemical reactivity parameters of the photosensitizers. Among the π-linkers employed, 2,6-diethenylbisthieno[3,2- b :2′,3′- d ]thiophene (D3) remarkably improved the intramolecular charge transfer, thus generated an exceptional HOMO/LUMO energy gap ( E g ), strong bathochromic shift, suitable LHE and notable V oc . The qualities of the dyes were further enhanced by replacing 2-cyano-2-pyran-4-ylidene-acetic acid with cyanoacrylic acid acceptor moiety. Comparison of these systems with other reported molecules reveals that majority of the simulated poses improved properties that are recommendable for solar cells applications.