Development of New Organic Photosensitizers for Application in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSC) are one of the most promising technologies available to convert solar energy in electricity, thanks to their low cost of production and their colorful and decorative features. Their working mechanism is based on light harvesting by a sensitizer, which can be an organic compound, with a donor (D) and an acceptor (A) group linked by an unsaturated unit (?).[2] The acceptor group is also responsible for anchoring on an inorganic semiconductor (TiO2), onto which electrons are transferred following photoexcitation.