The effect of donor-modification in organic light-harvesting motifs: triphenylamine donors appended with polymerisable thienyl subunits.

A family of seven organic triphenylamine-based dyes suitable for dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) applications is reported. The donor portion of these dyes has been systematically modified using polymerisable thienyl subunits. The physicochemical properties and device performance are discussed with device efficiencies ranging from 5.

Manipulating non-innocent π-spacers: the challenges of using 2,6-disubstituted BODIPY cores within donor-acceptor light-harvesting motifs.

The syntheses and physicochemical properties for a series of 2,6-disubstituted-4,4-difluoro-4-bora-3a,4a-diaza-s-indacene (BODIPY) dyes are reported. The use of chromophores or redox active species as π-spacers, such as BODIPY, requires the inclusion of a sufficiently conjugated donor in order to achieve appropriate charge separation upon photoexcitation. The information derived from this study offers guiding principles for incorporating strongly absorbing, non-innocent π-spacers in organic dye design.