Triphenylamine-phthalocyanine based sensitizer for sensitization of nanocrystalline TiO^sub 2^ films

We have designed a new triphenylamine-phthalocyanine based sensitizer (Pc-Org-1) having three bulky triphenylamine groups, which acts as donor and two carboxyl groups, which acts as acceptor as well as servers to graft onto nanocrystalline TiO^sub 2^. The new sensitizer was fully characterized by CHN, Mass, UV-Vis, fluorescence spectroscopies and cyclic voltammetry. The bulky triphenylamine groups are further reducing the aggregation of phthalocyanine macrocyle. DFT studies indicate that HOMO is delocalized π-electron system of phthalocyanine and LUMO is located on carboxyl groups. The new photosensitizer was tested in dye-sensitized solar cells using a durable redox electrolyte and compared its performance with PCH001. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]