Optical and Electrochemical Properties of Non-Peripheral Thioaryl-Substituted Subphthalocyanine as Precursors for Dye-Sensitizer to Develop Photovoltaic Cells

Abstract

Phthalocyanines-related compounds, subphthalocyanines, are the homologues consisting of three isoindole units with boron as the center. The absorption maximum of subphthalocyanines, called the Q band, appears around 560 - 630 nm, which is shifted by approximately 100 nm to shorter wavelengths compared to phthalocyanines. Subphthalocyanines are used as precursors to prepare unsymmetric phthalocyanines for ring enlargement reaction. In this decade, phthalocyanines are used for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), which require strong absorption of far-red light between 700 and 850 nm because of their highly efficiency. Non-peripheral thioaryl-substituted phthalocyanines have been synthesized. They show near-infrared absorption around 780 - 870 nm and have excellent electron transfer properties. However, their lack of affinity to basal plats inhibits their use as DSSC photosensitizer. Therefore, to synthesize unsymmetrical non-peripheral thioaryl-substituted phthalocyanines possessing good affinity to basal plates, the authors prepared subphthalocyanines having thioaryl substituents as precursors. Spectroscopic properties and electron transfer abilities to synthesize non-peripheral thioaryl-substituted subphthalocyanines were estimated using cyclic voltammetry. The Q band of non-peripheral thioaryl-substituted subphthalocyanines shows around 650 nm shifted to longer wavelength by 86 nm in comparison to subphthalocyanine. The compounds show many reduction potentials. They are acceptable electrons in the subphthalocyanine ring, meaning that the compounds have good electron transfer properties.