ABSTRACT

Organic photosensitizers especially designed for producing semitransparent dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) for greenhouse integration were prepared by introduction of different heterocyclic moieties into the thiazolo[5,4-d]thiazolemolecular scaffold. The aim was that of improving their light absorption capability in the green part of the visible spectrum while maintaining a good transparency in the blue and red regions, where the photosynthetic response is maximized. A short and efficient synthetic approach, featuring two consecutive C-H activation reactions in a one-pot procedure as key steps, was used. Based on their spectroscopic and electrochemical characterization, two of dyes prepared appeared especially suitable for greenhouse-integrated photovoltaics. The corresponding semitransparent DSSCs yielded 5.6-6.1% power conversion efficiencies, which were largely superior to those provided by other organic dyes previously proposed for the same application.

Authors:

Alessio Dessì, Massimo Calamante, Adalgisa Sinicropi, Maria Laura Parisi, Luigi Vesce, Paolo Mariani, Babak Taheri, Manuela Ciocca, Aldo Di Carlo, Lorenzo Zani, Alessandro Mordini, Gianna Reginato

https://doi.org/10.1039/D0SE00124D

Sustainable Energy & Fuels 2020