Investigation of Photovoltaic Properties of 1,8-Naphthalimide Dyes in Dye-sensitized Solar Cells

In this paper we selected two metal-free dyes (Dye 1 and Dye 2) based on 1,8-naphthalimide. The proposed dyes were sensitized from acenaphthene as the starting material by standard reactions. Spectrophotometric measurements of the organic dyes in DMF and on TiO2 substrate were carried out in order to assess changes in the status of the dyes. Maximum absorption wavelengths for Dye 1 and Dye 2 in solution are 427 nm and 434 nm and on TiO2 films are 451 nm and 455 nm, respectively. Finally, the proposed dyes were used as sensitizer in a home-made dye solar cell structure and their photovoltaic properties were investigated. The conversion efficiency for Dye 1 and Dye 2 are 1.19 % and 1.34 %, respectively.