New ruthenium sensitizers featuring bulky ancillary ligands combined with a dual functioned coadsorbent for high efficiency dye-sensitized solar cells.

Two ruthenium complexes featuring bulky ancillary ligands, XS48 and XS49, were synthesized and studied as dyes in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs). Both dyes exhibit higher solar-to-electrical energy conversion efficiency when compared to a commonly used N3 sensitizer under the same conditions. To examine the influence of the bulky ancillary ligands and alleviate the electron recombination in cells, we have developed a dual functioned truxene-based coadsorbent (MXD1) as an alternative candidate to chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA).