You-Zhi Wu

The Role of the Conjugate Bridge in Electronic Structures and Related Properties of Tetrahydroquinoline for Dye Sensitized Solar Cells

To understand the role of the conjugate bridge in modifying the properties of organic dye sensitizers in solar cells, the computations of the geometries and electronic structures for 10 kinds of tetrahydroquinoline dyes were performed using density functional theory (DFT), and the electronic absorption and fluorescence properties were investigated via time dependent DFT. The population analysis, molecular orbital energies, radiative lifetimes, exciton binding energies (EBE), and light harvesting efficiencies (LHE), as well as the free energy changes of electron injection (ΔGinject ) and dye regeneration ( ΔGdyeregen ) were also addressed. The correlation of charge populations and experimental open-circuit voltage (Voc) indicates that more charges populated in acceptor groups correspond to larger Voc. The elongating of conjugate bridge by thiophene units generates the larger oscillator strength, higher LHE, larger absolute value of ΔGinject, and longer relative radiative lifetime, but it induces the decreasing of EBE and ΔGdyeregen. So the extending of conjugate bridge with thiopene units in organic dye is an effective way to increase the harvest of solar light, and it is also favorable for electron injection due to their larger ΔGinject. While the inversely correlated relationship between EBE and LHE implies that the dyes with lower EBE produce more efficient light harvesting.

Electronic structures and optical properties of organic dye sensitizer NKX derivatives for solar cells: A theoretical approach

The photon to current conversion efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) can be significantly affected by dye sensitizers. The design of novel dye sensitizers with good performance in DSCs depend on the dyes information about electronic structures and optical properties. Here, the geometries, electronic structures, as well as the dipole moments and polarizabilities of organic dye sensitizers C343 and 20 kinds of NKX derivatives were calculated using density functional theory (DFT), and the computations of the time dependent DFT with different functionals were performed to explore the electronic absorption properties. Based upon the calculated results and the reported experimental work, we analyzed the role of different conjugate bridges, chromophores, and electron acceptor groups in tuning the geometries, electronic structures, optical properties of dye sensitizers, and the effects on the parameters of DSCs were also investigated.

Comparative study on electronic structures and optical properties of indoline and triphenylamine dye sensitizers for solar cells

The computations of the geometries, electronic structures, dipole moments and polarizabilities for indoline and triphenylamine (TPA) based dye sensitizers, including D102, D131, D149, D205, TPAR1, TPAR2, TPAR4, and TPAR5, were performed using density functional theory, and the electronic absorption properties were investigated via time-dependent density functional theory with polarizable continuum model for solvent effects. The population analysis indicates that the donating electron capability of TPA is better than that of indoline group. The reduction driving forces for the oxidized D131 and TPAR1 are slightly larger than that of other dyes because of their lower highest occupied molecular orbital level. The absorption properties and molecular orbital analysis suggest that the TPA and 4-(2,2diphenylethenyl)phenyl substituent indoline groups are effective chromophores in intramolecular charge transfer (IMCT), and they play an important role in sensitization of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs). The better performance of D205 in DSCs results from more IMCT excited states with larger oscillator strength and higher light harvesting efficiency. While for TPA dyes, the longer conjugate bridges generate the larger oscillator strength and light harvesting efficiency, and the TPAR1 and TPAR4 have larger free energy change for electron injection and dye regeneration.

Determination of carrier mobility in disordered organics from current-voltage characteristics

Electrical field dependent charge carriermobility of organics was determined by introducing a useful function transformed from simple current-voltage characteristics in an electron-only device. The calculated mobility is consistent with the Poole–Frenkel form for the electrical field between 400 and 1100 V 1 / 2 cm − 1 / 2 . The electrical field and carrier distributions in the device were also obtained from the newly introduced function to exhibit behaviors of x α and 1 / x 1 − α ( α ∼ 0.15 – 0.25 , for current density from 20 to 500 mA cm − 2 , x > 6 nm , is the distance from cathode), respectively.

The adsorption of α-cyanoacrylic acid on anatase TiO2 (101) and (001) surfaces: A density functional theory study

The adsorption of α-cyanoacrylic acid (CAA) on anatase TiO2 (101) and (001) surfaces, including adsorption energies, structures, and electronic properties, have been studied by means of density functional theory calculations in connection with ultrasoft pseudopotential and generalized gradient approximation based upon slab models. The most stable structure of CAA on anatase TiO2 (101) surface is the dissociated bidentate configuration where the cyano N and carbonyl O bond with two adjacent surface Ti atoms along [010] direction and the dissociated H binds to the surface bridging O which connects the surface Ti bonded with carbonyl O. While for the adsorption of CAA on (001) surface, the most stable structure is the bidentate configuration through the dissociation of hydroxyl in carboxyl moiety. The O atoms of carboxyl bond with two neighbor surface Ti along [100] direction, and the H from dissociated hydroxyl interacts with surface bridging O, generating OH species. The adsorption energies are estimated to be 1.02 and 3.25 eV for (101) and (001) surfaces, respectively. The analysis of density of states not only suggests the bonds between CAA and TiO2 surfaces are formed but also indicates that CAA adsorptions on TiO2 (101) and (001) surfaces provide feasible mode for photo-induced electron injection through the interface between TiO2 and CAA. This is resulted from that, compared with the contribution of CAA orbitals in valence bands, the conduction bands which are mainly composed of Ti 3d orbitals have remarkable reduction of the component of CAA orbitals.

The Role of Porphyrin-Free-Base in the Electronic Structures and Related Properties of N-Fused Carbazole-Zinc Porphyrin Dye Sensitizers

Dye sensitizers can significantly affect power conversion efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Porphyrin-based dyes are promising sensitizers due to their performances in DSSCs. Here, based upon a N-fused carbazole-zinc porphyrin-free-base porphyrin triad containing an ethynyl-linkage (coded as DTBC), the novel porphyrin dyes named DTBC-MP and DTBC-TP were designed by varying the porphyrin-free-base units in the π conjugation of DTBC in order to study the effect of porphyrin-free-base in the modification of electronic structures and related properties. The calculated results indicate that, the extension of the conjugate bridge with the porphyrin-free-base unit results in elevation of the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energies, decrease of the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) energies, reduction of the HOMO-LUMO gap, red-shift of the absorption bands, and enhancement of the absorbance. The free energy changes demonstrate that introducing more porphyrin-free-base units in the conjugate bridge induces a faster rate of electron injection. The transition properties and molecular orbital characters suggest that the different transition properties might lead to a different electron injection mechanism. In terms of electronic structure, absorption spectra, light harvesting capability, and free energy changes, the designed DTBC-TP is a promising candidate dye sensitizer for DSSCs.

Electronic structures and optical properties of phenyl C 71 butyric acid methyl esters

Phenyl C71 butyric acid methyl ester (PC71BM) has been adopted as electron acceptor materials in bulk heterojunction solar cells with relatively higher power conversion efficiency. The understanding of the mechanism and performance for the devices based upon PC71BM requires the information of conformations, electronic structures, optical properties, and so forth. Here, the geometries, IR and Raman, electronic structures, polarizabilities, and hyperpolarizabilities of PC71BM isomers are studied by using density functional theory (DFT); the absorption and excitation properties are investigated via time-dependent DFT with B3LYP, PBE0, and CAM-B3LYP functionals. The calculated results show that [6,6]PC71BM is more stable than [5,6]PC71BM due to the lower total energy. The vibrational modes of the isomers at IR and Raman peaks are quite similar. As to absorption properties, CAM-B3LYP functional is the suitable functional for describing the excitations of PC71BM because the calculated results with CAM-B3LYP functional agree well with that of the experiment. The analysis of transition configurations and molecular orbitals demonstrated that the transitions at the absorption maxima in UV/Vis region are localized π-π* transitions in fullerenes cages. Furthermore, the larger isotropic polarizability of PC71BM indicates that the response of PC71BM to applied external electric field is stronger than that of PC61BM, and therefore resulting into better nonlinear optical properties.

Molecular Docking toward Panchromatic Dye Sensitizers for Solar Cells Based upon Tetraazulenylporphyrin and Tetraanthracenylporphyrin

Novel dye sensitizers are highly expected in the development of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) because dye sensitizers can significantly affect the power conversion efficiency (PCE). Here, the molecular docking strategy is applied to design panchromatic dye sensitizers for DSSCs to improve light-harvesting efficiency covering the full solar spectrum. Considering the broad absorption bands of tetraanthracenylporphyrins (TAnPs) and tetraazuleneporphyrins (TAzPs), based upon porphyrin dye sensitizer YD2-o-C8, the panchromatic dye sensitizers coded as H2(TAnP)-α, H2(TAzP)-γ, H2(TAzP)-ε, and H2(TAzP)-δ are designed by the substitution of the porphyrin-ring in YD2-o-C8 with TAnPs and TAzPs moieties at different positions. The geometries, electronic structures, and excitation properties of the designed dye sensitizers are investigated using density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT methods. The analysis of geometries, conjugation lengths, electronic structures, absorption spectra, transition configurations, exciton binding energies, and free energy variations for electron injection and dye regeneration supports that the designed molecules are effective to be applied as potential candidates of dye sensitizers for DSSCs. Among the designed dye sensitizers, H2(TAzP)-γ and H2(TAnP)-α must have the better performance in DSSCs.

The electronic structure engineering of organic dye sensitizers for solar cells: The case of JK derivatives

The design and development of novel dye sensitizers are effective method to improve the performance of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) because dye sensitizers have significant influence on photo-to-current conversion efficiency. In the procedure of dye sensitizer design, it is very important to understand how to tune their electronic structures and related properties through the substitution of electronic donors, acceptors, and conjugated bridges in dye sensitizers. Here, the electronic structures and excited-state properties of organic JK dye sensitizers are calculated by using density functional theory (DFT) and time dependent DFT methods. Based upon the calculated results, we investigated the role of different electronic donors, acceptors, and π-conjugated bridges in the modification of electronic structures, absorption properties, as well as the free energy variations for electron injection and dye regeneration. In terms of the analysis of transition configurations and molecular orbitals, the effective chromophores which are favorable for electron injection in DSSCs are addressed. Meanwhile, considering the absorption spectra and free energy variation, the promising electronic donors, π-conjugated bridges, and acceptors are presented to design dye sensitizers.

Geometry, Electronic Structure, and Related Properties of Dye Sensitizer: 3,4-bis[1-(carboxymethyl)-3-indolyl]-1H-pyrrole-2,5-dione

The geometry, electronic structure, polarizability and hyperpolarizability of dye sensitizer 3,4-bis[1-(carboxymethyl)-3-indolyl]-1H-pyrrole-2,5-dione (BIMCOOH) were studied using density functional theory (DFT) with hybrid functional B3LYP, and the electronic absorption spectra were investigated using semi-empirical quantum chemical method ZINDO-1 and time-dependent DFT (TDDFT). The results of natural bond orbital suggest that the natural charges of the dione, indole, and acetic groups are about –0.15e, –0.29e, and 0.44e, respectively. The calculated isotropic polarizability, polarizability anisotropy invariant and hyperpolarizability are 305.4, 188.3, and 1155.4 a.u., respectively. The electronic absorption spectral features in visible and near-UV region were assigned to the π→π* transition due to the qualitative agreement between the experiment and the TDDFT calculations, and the transitions of the excited states 9–11 related to photoinduced intramolecular charge transfer processes. The analysis of electronic structure and UV-Vis absorption indicates that the indole groups primarily contributed sensitization of photo-to-currency conversion processes, and the interfacial electron transfer between semiconductor TiO2 electrode and dye sensitizer BIMCOOH are electron injection processes from excited states of the dyes to the semiconductor conduction band.