Research perspectives on the structure-property relationship of polyaromatic pyrene-based chalcone derivatives as dye-sensitizers in DSSC applications

Abstract

Abstract Photovoltaic studies in DSSC have continued to be fascinated by chalcone derivatives because of their straightforward synthesis, green synthetic process and low toxicity properties using Claisen-Schmidt condensation method. In this report, the implementation of the newly synthesized pyrenyl chalcone derivatives, Py1 and Py2 as dye-sensitizers and the characterization studies are further discussed. The grown crystals are characterized via several spectroscopic analyses such as ATR, 1H and 13C NMR and UV–vis analyses. The UV–vis analysis shows a lower energy gap in Py1 (2.79 eV) in comparison to Py2 (2.90 eV) which further indicates better flow of charge transfer. The analysis of crystal packing reveals the arrangement of head-to-head by intermolecular π—π contacts and head-to-tail via intermolecular C–H···O interactions in Py1 and Py2, respectively. The intermolecular interactions act to stabilize the crystal structure and further improve the charge transfer within the dyes and enhancement of DSSC efficiency. In electrochemical analysis using cyclic voltammetry (CV), Py1 and Py2 are found in the suitable HOMO and LUMO energy levels which confirms their applicability as photosensitizer materials. After the fabrication process, DSSC layers are continued for FESEM and EDX analyses before proceeding for the performance study. The Py1 with D-π-A architecture has significantly revealed a higher efficiency than D-π-D structure of Py2.