A Triphenylamine Dye Model for the Study of Intramolecular Energy Transfer and Charge Transfer in Dye‐Sensitized Solar Cells

A novel dye (2TPA‐R), containing two triphenylamine (TPA) units connected by a vinyl group and rhodanine‐3‐acetic acid as the electron acceptor, is designed and synthesized successfully to reveal the working principles of organic dye in dye‐sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). 2TPA and TPA‐R, which consist of two TPA units connected by vinyl and a TPA unit linked with rhodanine‐3‐acetic acid, respectively, are also synthesized as references to study the intramolecular energy transfer (EnT) and charge transfer (ICT) processes of 2TPA‐R in CH2Cl2 solution and on a TiO2 surface. The results suggest that the intramolecular EnT and ICT processes show a positive effect on the performance of DSSCs. However, the flexible structure and less‐adsorbed amount of dye on TiO2 may make it difficult to improve the efficiency of DSSCs. This study on intramolecular EnT and ICT processes acts as a guide for the design and synthesis of efficient organic dyes in the future. An organic dye (2TPA‐R) that contains two triphenylamine units, connected by a vinyl group, and rhodanine‐3‐acetic acid as an electron acceptor, is designed and synthesized successfully to study the intramolecular energy transfer and charge transfer processes of the dye in solution and in dye‐sensitized solar cells (DSSCs; see figure). The results reveal that both transfer processes afford a positive effect on the performance of 2TPA‐R‐based DSSCs.