Synthesis and Characterization of Unsymmetrical α,β-Conjugated Keto Derivatives and their Complexes for Dye Sensitizer Solar Cell (DSSC) Application

• Main Author: Phan, Tze Pei
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 2019
• Subjects: QD Chemistry
• Online Access: http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/26692/1/Phan%20Tze%20Pei%20ft.pdf; http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/26692/

A total of 3 novel compounds of unsymmetrical bis-chalcone, namely, compound 1A, 1B and 1C had been synthesized by the Claisen-Schmidt condensation reaction. The synthesized unsymmetrical bis-chlacone compounds were further proceeded to the complexation with cis-dichlorotetrakis(dimethylsulfoxide) ruthenium(II) precursor and boron trifluoride diethyl ether to produce the new ruthenium(II) complexes, 2A, 2B and 2C and borondifluoride complexes, 3A, 3B and 3C. The molecular structure of the synthesized compounds and complexes were spectroscopically characterized and confirmed by fourier transform infrared spectrophotometer, proton and carbon nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer, UV-visible spectrophotometer and CHN analysis. The single crystal of complexes 2C and 3C were analyzed by X-ray crystallography and resolved using Apex III and Olex 2.0 software. At last, all synthesized compounds and complexes were applied as the dye sensitizer in the dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) by using FTO glass coated with titanium dioxide (TiO2) as the working electrode and the ITO glass coated with platinum as the counter electrode. The conversion efficiency was tested using the San Ei XES-40S1 Solar Simulator under monochromatic light of air mass 1.5 global (AM 1.5G) with the incident light intensity of 100 mW/cm2. Results showed that complex 3C that consists of OMe and borondifluoride substituents in the same molecule achieved the highest efficiency at 0.091% with 14% IPCE at 430 nm. Conversely, the ruthenium complexes have the lowest efficiency at 0.001 – 0.002% with 0.32-2.55% IPCE at 430 nm. Aside from the importance of push-pull effect in the conversion efficiency, the results from X-ray crystal data also discovered the pi-conjugation that allows charge transfer which plays vital role in the conversion efficiency of a DSSC.