Abstract

Organic materials have gained considerable attention in photovoltaic and optoelectronic applications such as batteries, organic field-effect transistors and organic photovoltaic cells. This work is centred on the synthesis, characterisation and photo-electrochemical conversion of 3, 5-diamino-4-[(e)-(6- hydroxy-1,3-benzothiazol-2-yl) diazenyl]-2-(tricyanoethenyl) benzoic acid. Standard procedures successfully synthesised two novel dyes with the structural configuration of D-π-bridge-D-A (donor-π- bridge-donor-acceptor). The colour of the dye spans from brown red to dark brown with a melting point that spans from 164-182°C. The 1H and 13C-NMR spectroscopy for dye 44 and 66 and from the result, seven signals with highly characteristic de-shielded carboxylic protons at 10.40 ppm (1H, Singlet) and the hydroxyl protons 10.04 ppm. The 13C –NMR spectrum of the Dye 44 showed a signal at 173.51 ppm for the carbon atom of the carboxylic groups, while a signal at 157.29 ppm was attributable to the carbon atom of the thiazole ring. The ability of a solar cell to generate photocurrent at a given wavelength of the incident light was measured by the incident monochromatic photon to current conversion efficiency (IPCE). The result was observed to range from 54.9% (at 440 nm) and 54% (at 420nm) for Dye 66, confirming that the photon from the sun has been fully converted into current.