Coplanar D-π-A organic sensitizers featuring a thienylethynyl spacer for efficient dye-sensitized solar cells

We simply synthesize coplanar metal-free organic sensitizers featuring a thienylethynyl spacer, CSD-01 and CSD-02, from commercially available thiophene derivatives. The dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) based on the CSD-01 and CSD-02 without any coadsorbate show the power conversion efficiencies (η) of 4.60% and 5.32%, respectively. The study in the dye-adsorption time suggests the increase in the organic DSSC performance with decreasing soaking time