A series of anthracene-based organic dyes were prepared via cost-effective synthetic procedures for dye-sensitized cell application. UV-visible and fluorescent spectra, electrochemical properties as well as photovoltaic performance of the dyes were studied. Under one sun (100 mW/cm²), the AN-3 small cell (area = 0.16 cm²) outperforms others in the series. Under a dim light condition, the AN-3 modules (area = 36 cm², manufactured by TDP, Taiwan) showed PCE comparable to that of the Z907 modules. After optimizing the synthetic procedure, we found that AN-3 can be manufactured at a fairly low price.

Reference: J. Phys. Chem. C 2015, 119, 24282−24289