Synthesis of π-A-porphyrins and their photoelectric performance for dye-sensitized solar cells

Three π-A-porphyrins containing long alkoxyl chains attached to the ortho position of phenyl ring and a phenyl carboxylate acid or acrylic acid at the meso position of porphyrin were synthesized. All compounds were characterized by 1H NMR and mass spectrometry. Optical and electrochemical properties were also obtained. The photovoltaic properties of these π-A-porphyrins were examined for the first time and sensitizers N-1 and N-3 achieved comparable light to electricity conversion efficiencies: 3.94% for N-1 and 4.14% for N-3. However, preparation of N-1 required simple and cost-effective synthesis which made it a promising candidate for the future practical DSSC applications. The low efficiency conversion of N-2 was well explained by the amount of dye loading, IPCE and EIS.