Synthesis of Quaterrylene-Based Dyes for NIR Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

Photovoltaic cells based on semiconductor technology are, nowadays, the most efficient and easily available systems for solar energy conversion. Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSCs) are very promising owing to low production costs, transparency and ability to harvest diffused light.1 Building Integrated PhotoVoltaics (BIPV) based on DSSC are an emerging application to make DSSC more attractive in the energy production field. An innovative and powerful approach resides on the implementation of colourless DSSCs based on NIR sensitizers such as polymethine and rylene dyes.2,3 Whereas well-known NIR sensitizers like phthalocyanines and polymethine dyes are still characterized by a significant absorption in the visible window, extended rylene dyes such as quaterrylene could be allow the assemble of a totally colourless DSSCs.2,3 In this work, we present the synthesis of two quaterrylene dyes to evaluate their application as NIR-sensitizers in DSSCs. Different synthetic pathways were explored to functionalize the rylene core to modulate the photophysical and electronic requirements and to improve the processability properties of the final materials. The photophysical and electrochemical properties were investigated. The assemble and study of devices based on quaterrylene dyes is under investigation and the preliminary results will be presented.