Organic dyes engineering for operating Foerster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSCs) have received great attention in recent years, aiming to optimize their components in order to improve efficiencies. The synthesis of new organic photosensitizer in DSSC was the aim of this work. We focused on a metal-free antenna-sensitizer covalent adduct (DYAD), aiming to obtain a molecular system characterized by high molar attenuation coefficient and broad absorption spectrum in the visible region. We explored F?rster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) as a mean to transfer energy between the ANTENNA and the dye RI114 (Figure 1 Left). Two molecular fragments with complementary light absorption properties were designed and prepared to be joined together using a CuAAC "click" reaction as late-stage functionalization. The molecular fragments and the final dyad were spectroscopically characterized using absorption and emission spectroscopy techniques (Figure 1 Right), and it was possible to prove that energy transfer occurred between the two units.