Structural and spectral properties of 4-phenoxyphthalonitrile dye sensitizer for solar cell applications

The geometries, electronic structures, polarizabilities and hyperpolarizabilities of organic dye sensitizer 4-phenoxyphthalonitrile was studied based on ab initio HF and density functional theory (DFT) using the hybrid functional B3LYP. Ultraviolet–visible (UV–Vis) spectrum was investigated by time dependent DFT (TD-DFT). Features of the electronic absorption spectrum in the visible and near-UV regions were assigned based on TD-DFT calculations. The absorption bands were assigned to $\pi \to \pi^*$ transitions. Calculated results suggest that the three excited states with the lowest excited energies in 4-phenoxyphthalonitrile was due to photo-induced electron transfer processes. The interfacial electron transfer between semiconductor TiO2 electrode and dye sensitizer 4-phenoxyphthalonitrile was due to an electron injection process from excited dye to the semiconductor’s conduction band. The role of phenoxy group in 4-phenoxyphthalonitrile in geometries, electronic structures and spectral properties were analysed.