New thiocyanate-free ruthenium(ii) sensitizers with different pyrid-2-yl tetrazolate ligands for dye-sensitized solar cells

The synthesis of two new thiocyanate free Ru(ii) complexes with different pyrid-2-yl tetrazolate ligands is reported, along with their electrochemical, spectroscopic and theoretical characterization. The corresponding dye-sensitized solar cell devices were prepared, leading to 3.4% conversion efficiency, promising data, considering the simplicity of the ligands and the high chemical stability of the complexes.