New 2-methoxy-4,6-bis(4-(4-nitrostyryl)phenyl)nicotinonitrile: Synthesis, characterization and DSSC study

Abstract A new 2-methoxy-4,6-bis(4-(4-nitrostyryl)phenyl)nicotinonitrile ( W-NO 2 ) has been synthesized and the photovoltaic performances in dye‐sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) are investigated by utilizing it as co-sensitizer dye. From the study, its molar extinction coefficient value is found to be much higher than the N719 and the co-sensitized DSSC device showed a 1.78 times better efficiency than the N719 based devices. Preliminary DSSC results also revealed that the molecular architecture of dye ( W-NO 2 ) can be effectively utilized as a co-sensitizer along with the N719 to increase the spectral coverage as well as to achieve improved efficiency.