Dyes and Pigments

Two new conjugated acceptoredonoreacceptor (Aep-Dep-A) compounds having a Zn-porphyrin acting as donor and linked by ethynylenes to one or two units of thienylenevinylene and capped by dicyanovinylene groups as acceptor units have been synthesized and their photophysical and electrochemical properties were investigated. These compounds were used as donor materials and PC61BM and PC71BM were used as acceptors in solution-processed bulk-heterojunction (BHJ) organic solar cells and the best photoconversion efficiency (PCE) obtained was 3.21%. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.