Non-peripherally tetra substituted phthalocyanines bearing carboxylic acid anchoring groups as photosensitizer for high efficient dye-sensitized solar cells

The synthesis of metallophthalocyanines (M = Zn (1), In (2), Co (3), Cu (4), Ni (5) and Mg (6)) derived from (2E)-3-[4-(2,3-dicyanophenoxy)-3-methoxyphenyl]prop-2-enoic acid on non-peripherally positions were achieved. These compounds were characterized by joining of elemental analysis, FT-IR, ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, UV–Vis, and mass spectroscopic techniques. The aggregation properties of these phthalocyanines were also investigated in DMSO and THF solvents at different concentrations. The sensitizing ability and the effect of sensitization time on the photovoltaic performance of non-peripherally tetra substituted phthalocyanines bearing carboxylic acid anchoring groups has been systematically investigated. It was observed that the sensitization time of TiO₂ photoelectrodes in compounds 1–6 based dyes have a strong effect on the dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) device performance parameters. Interesting results were obtained for indium(III)CI phthalocyanine (2) sensitized device under optimized conditions.