Application of poly(3-hexylthiophene) functionalized with an anchoring group in dye-sensitized solar cells.

A series of three poly(3-hexylthiophene) functionalized either with a cyanoacetic acid (CA) or a rhodanine-3-acetic acid anchoring groups were synthesized and characterized. The TiO(2) based dye-sensitized solar cells have been fabricated and performances were tested. We show that shorter chain length (15 thiophene units) linked to CA binding group gives good performances as J(sc) , V(oc) , FF and η(%) were 6.93(mA · cm(-2) ), 0.65(V), 0.67 and 3.02%, respectively. A maximum IPCE of ≈50% at 500 nm was recorded with a liquid electrolyte, under AM 1.5 simulated solar irradiance.