Kumaresan Prabakaran

Metal-Free Tetrathienoacene Sensitizers for High-Performance Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

A new series of metal-free organic chromophores (TPA-TTAR-A (1), TPA-T-TTAR-A (2), TPA-TTAR-T-A (3), and TPA-T-TTAR-T-A (4)) are synthesized for application in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) based on a donor-π-bridge-acceptor (D-π-A) design. Here a simple triphenylamine (TPA) moiety serves as the electron donor, a cyanoacrylic acid as the electron acceptor and anchoring group, and a novel tetrathienoacene (TTA) as the π-bridge unit. Because of the extensively conjugated TTA π-bridge, these dyes exhibit high extinction coefficients (4.5-5.2 × 10(4) M(-1) cm(-1)). By strategically inserting a thiophene spacer on the donor or acceptor side of the molecules, the electronic structures of these TTA-based dyes can be readily tuned. Furthermore, addition of a thiophene spacer has a significant influence on the dye orientation and self-assembly modality on TiO2 surfaces. The insertion of a thiophene between the π-bridge and the cyanoacrylic acid anchoring group in TPA-TTAR-T-A (dye 3) promotes more vertical dye orientation and denser packing on TiO2 (molecular footprint = 79 Å(2)), thus enabling optimal dye loading. Using dye 3, a DSSC power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 10.1% with Voc = 0.833 V, Jsc = 16.5 mA/cm(2), and FF = 70.0% is achieved, among the highest reported to date for metal-free organic DSSC sensitizers using an I(-)/I3(-) redox shuttle. Photophysical measurements on dye-grafted TiO2 films reveal that the additional thiophene unit in dye 3 enhances the electron injection efficiency, in agreement with the high quantum efficiency.

Asymmetric fused thiophenes for field-effect transistors: crystal structure–film microstructure–transistor performance correlations

New asymmetric phenyl and perfluorophenyl end-functionalized dithienothiophene (DTT)- and bisdithienothiophene (BDTT)-based fused-thiophene derivatives (FPP-DTT; 1 and FPP-BDTT; 3) were synthesized and characterized for organic thin-film transistor (OTFT) applications. For comparison, symmetric phenyl end-capped dithienothiophene and bisdithienothiophene derivatives DP-DTT (2) and DP-BDTT (4) were also explored in parallel. The crystal structures of all four molecules were determined via single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Asymmetric compounds 1 and 3 exhibit face-to-face π–π stacking, while symmetric 2 and 4 show herringbone stacking. Single-crystal and thin-film transistors based on these four materials were fabricated. For single-crystal transistors, asymmetric FPP-DTT and FPP-BDTT gave high p-channel mobilities of 0.74 and 0.73 cm2 V−1 s−1, respectively, as well as current on/off ratios of ∼105. Symmetric DP-DTT and DP-BDTT gave relatively lower p-channel mobilities of 0.36 and 0.41 cm2 V−1 s−1, respectively. For thin-film transistors, FPP-DTT and DP-DTT films deposited at 25 °C exhibited decent p-channel characteristics with a carrier mobility as high as 0.15 and 0.20 cm2 V−1 s−1, respectively for top-contact/bottom-gate OTFT devices. The device characteristics on various gate dielectrics have been correlated with the film morphologies and microstructures of the corresponding compounds.

Functionalized benzothieno[3,2 b]thiophenes (BTTs) for high performance organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs)

New benzothieno[3,2-b]thiophene (BTT) derivatives, end-functionalized with biphenyl (Bp-BTT), naphthalenyl (Np-BTT), and benzothieno[3,2-b]thiophenyl (BBTT; dimer of BTT) moieties, were synthesized and characterized for bottom-gate/top-contact organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs). All three materials exhibit good environmental stability as assessed by thermogravimetric analysis, and no decomposition after extended light exposure, due to their wide band gaps and low-lying HOMOs. The single crystal structures of Bp-BTT and BBTT reveal flat molecular geometries, close π–π stacking, and short sulfur-to-sulfur distances, suggesting an ideal arrangement for charge transport. X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements verify that the bulk crystal structures are preserved in the polycrystalline thin films. As a consequence, Bp-BTT and BBTT exhibit good OTFT performance, with µ = 0.34 cm2 V−1 s−1 (max) and Ion/Ioff = (3.3 ± 1.6) × 108 for Bp-BTT, and µ = 0.12 cm2 V−1 s−1 (max) and Ion/Ioff = (2.4 ± 0.9) × 107 for BBTT; whereas Np-BTT gives lower device performance with µ = 0.055 cm2 V−1 s−1 (max) and Ion/Ioff = (6.7 ± 3.4) × 108. In addition, octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS) self-assembled monolayer (SAM) treatment of the SiO2 gate dielectric is found to be effective in enhancing the OTFT performance for all three BTT derivatives, by improving the interfacial semiconductor film morphology and in-plane crystallinity.

Simple and Convenient Methods for the Synthesis of Indolo[3,2-c]acridines

The reaction of 2,3,4,9-tetrahydro-1H-carbazol-1-ones with anthranilic acid in POCl3 yielded 7-chloro-5,6-dihydro-13H-indolo[3,2-c]acridines, while the same on reaction with isatin under the Pfitzinger reaction condition yielded 5,6-dihydro-13H-indolo[3,2-c]acridine-7-carboxylic acids. The latter reaction was carried out in different basic condition, because of, NaOH yielded more yield instead of KOH. Both the obtained products were treated with Pd/C in diphenyl ether to yield 13H-Indolo[3,2-c]acridines.

Metal-free branched alkyl tetrathienoacene (TTAR)-based sensitizers for high-performance dye-sensitized solar cells

A new series of metal-free alkylated tetrathienoacene (TTAR)-based organic chromophores, TPA–TTAR–TA (R = branched-C8H17, 1, TTAR-b8; R = C15H31, 2, TTAR-15; R = C9H19, 3, TTAR-9), are synthesized for application in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Due to the extensively conjugated TTAR π-bridge, all three dyes exhibit high extinction coefficients (1 × 105 M−1 cm−1). By systematically exploring the effects of the TTAR alkyl chain substituents, a significant influence of the dye coverage (orientation) on the TiO2 surfaces is observed. The branched-alkyl TTAR-b8 (1) promotes significant tilting and packing distortion on TiO2 in comparison to more ordered monolayers of linear long alkyls TTAR-15 (2) and TTAR-9 (3). Photophysical measurements on the dye-grafted TiO2 films reveal that the branched-alkylated TTA unit in 1 enhances the electron injection efficiency, in agreement with the high quantum efficiency. Notably, by utilizing a three-dimensional (3D) photonic crystal (PhC) layer to enhance the coherent scattering an increase the light absorption, TTAR-b8 exhibits higher short-circuit current densities and achieved a high PCE of 11.18%. TTAR-b8 is thus the best performing fused-thiophene-based organic DSSC dye reported to date.

Convergent Synthetic Route to Pyrano[2,3-a]carbazole by Multicomponent Reaction

Abstract NaHCO3 has been found to be an efficient base catalyst for the synthesis of pyrano[2,3-a]carbazoles from 1-hydroxycarbazoles by multicomponent reaction using solvent-free grinding methods. In this case, the products have been found in good yields, without formation of any side product. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

Remarkable effects of primary amide substitution in the sensitizer: an efficient route to enhance the photocurrent density of the solar cell

The incorporation of electron-withdrawing groups in carbene based ruthenium complexes significantly affected their light-harvesting capabilities. The remarkable increase in the conversion efficiency was exhibited by the primary amide substituted sensitizer, CI103 (9.32%), compared to that of CI101 (5.44%) and the N719 dye (8.43%). The finding gives an efficient approach to enhance the photocurrent density and the power conversion efficiency of the solar cell.

Synthesis and characterization of novel symmetrical two-photon chromophores derived from bis(triphenylaminotetrathienoacenyl) and fused-thiophene units

Four new donor–π–donor (D–π1–π2–π1–D) fused-thiophene-based chromophores, end-functionalized with electron-donating triphenylamine (TPA) groups, were developed and characterized for a two-photon absorption study. Within this series, tetrathienoacene (thieno[2′,3′:4,5]thieno[3,2-b]thieno[2,3-d]thiophene; TTA) moieties were employed as side-conjugated (π1) units, and the central conjugated core (π2) units were altered with thiophene (T), bithiophene (bT), thienothiophene (TT), and dithienothiophene (DTT) for chromophores 1–4, respectively. The structural and photophysical relationships of the four compounds were compared, and all four chromophores showed strong fluorescence with good thermal stability. The energy gap compression of these chromophores was verified by electrochemistry and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The two-photon-related properties of 1–4 were examined using femtosecond laser pulses as the probing tool. The magnitude of the two-photon absorptivity was found to be strongly dependent on the molecular conjugation length and the center fused-thiophene unit. Within the family, the most conjugated DTT-centered chromophore (4) exhibits the strongest and the most widely dispersed two-photon absorption cross-section value up to 3000 GM. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest 2PA cross section value reported to date among the studied fused thiophene-based chromophores.

A highly conjugated benzimidazole carbene-based ruthenium sensitizer for dye-sensitized solar cells.

A new type of carbene-based ruthenium sensitizer, CB104, with a highly conjugated ancillary ligand, diphenylvinylthiophene-substituted benzimidazolepyridine, was designed and developed for dye-sensitized solar cell applications. The influence of the thiophene antenna on the performance of the cell anchored with CB104 was investigated. Compared with the dye CBTR, the conjugated thiophene in the ancillary ligand of CB104 enhanced the molar extinction coefficient of the intraligand π-π* transition and the intensity of the lower energy metal-to-ligand charge-transfer band. However, the incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency spectrum of the cell anchored with CB104 (0.15 mM) showed a maximum of 63 % at 420 nm. The cell sensitized with the dye CB104 attained a power conversion efficiency of 7.30 %, which was lower than that of the cell with nonconjugated sensitizer CBTR (8.92 %) under the same fabrication conditions. The variation in the performance of these two dyes demonstrated that elongating the conjugated light-harvesting antenna resulted in the reduction of short-circuit photocurrent density, which might have been due to the aggregation of dye molecules. In the presence of a coabsorbate, chenodeoxycholic acid, the CB104-sensitized cell exhibited an enhanced photocurrent density and achieved a photovoltaic efficiency of 8.36 %.

Facile Synthesis of Substituted Furo- and Pyrano-Carbazoles

Abstract Simple and efficient method for the synthesis of substituted furo- and pyrano-carbazole derivatives from 1-hydroxycarbazoles was described. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT