Faculty Publications
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Item New luminescent 2-methoxy-6-(4-methoxy-phenyl)-4-p-tolyl-nicotinonitrile: Synthesis, crystal structure, DFT and photophysical studies(2014) Ahipa, T.N.; Kamath, P.R.; Kumar, V.; Vasudeva Adhikari, A.V.In the current communication, we report the synthesis, spectroscopic, crystal structure, DFT and photophysical studies of a new nicotinonitrile derivative, viz. 2-methoxy-6-(4-methoxy-phenyl)-4-p-tolyl-nicotinonitrile (2) as a potential blue light emitting material. The compound 2 was synthesized in good yield via a simple route. The acquired spectral and elemental analysis data were in consistent with the chemical structure of 2. The single crystal study further confirms its three dimensional structure, molecular shape, and nature of short contacts. Its DFT calculations reveal that compound 2 possesses a non-planar structure and its theoretical IR spectral data are found to be in accordance with experimental values. In addition, its UV-visible and fluorescence spectral measurements prove that the compound exhibits good absorption and fluorescence properties. Also, it shows positive solvatochromic effect when the solvent polarity was varied from non-polar to polar. © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Item Molecular Engineering and Theoretical Investigation of Novel Metal-Free Organic Chromophores for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells(Elsevier Ltd, 2015) Babu, D.D.; Cheema, H.; Elsherbiny, D.; El-Shafei, A.; Vasudeva Adhikari, A.V.In this work we report design and synthesis of three new metal free D-D-A-?-A type dyes (E1-3) with different acceptor/anchoring groups, as effective sensitizers for nanocrystalline titanium dioxide based dye sensitized solar cells. All the three dyes carry electron donating methoxy group as an auxiliary and indole as a principal donor, cyanovinylene as an auxiliary acceptor and thiophene as a ?-spacer. Whereas, cyanoacetic acid, rhodanine-3-acetic acid and 4-aminobenzoic acid perform as acceptor/anchoring moieties, respectively in the dyes E1-3. Though the dye containing 4-aminobenzoic acid unit (E3) exhibits comparatively lower ?max, it shows the highest power conversion efficiency arising from the higher electron life time and good light-harvesting capability. The DFT studies reveal a better charge separation between the HOMO and LUMO levels of E3, further substantiating the experimental results. Among the three dyes, E3 shows the best photovoltaic performance with short-circuit current density (Jsc) of 9.35 mA cm-2, open-circuit voltage (Voc) of 620 mV and fill factor (FF) of 0.71, corresponding to an overall conversion efficiency of 4.12% under standard global AM 1.5G. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Item New indole based co-sensitizers for dye sensitized solar cells exceeding 10% efficiency(Royal Society of Chemistry, 2016) Babu, D.D.; Su, R.; El-Shafei, A.; Vasudeva Adhikari, A.V.In this work, we report the molecular engineering and synthesis of three novel indole co-sensitizers DBA-3, DBA-4 and DBA-5 with D–D–A (donor–donor–acceptor) architecture. In the quest to comprehend the role of auxiliary donors on co-sensitization, we have incorporated auxiliary electron donating moieties with varying geometries and electron donating capabilities to the indole moiety in order to obtain the aforementioned co-sensitizers. Their electrochemical and photo-physical properties along with molecular geometries, obtained from Density Functional Theory (DFT) are studied to vindicate the effect of the co-sensitizer structures on the photovoltaic properties of DSSCs. Furthermore, for the first time we demonstrate the profound effect of auxiliary donor groups on the co-sensitization performance of the organic molecules. Devices co-sensitized using DBA-3, DBA-4 and DBA-5 along with ruthenium sensitizer NCSU-10, displayed significantly different photovoltaic conversion efficiencies (PCEs) when compared to that of the device sensitized using only NCSU-10. The photovoltaic and EIS studies revealed that, the co-sensitizer DBA-4 succeeded in enhancing the light harvesting capability as well as efficiently suppressing undesirable charge recombinations in the cell. Due to the aforementioned reasons, a cell co-sensitized using DBA-4 has shown promising photovoltaic results and exhibited an enhanced overall efficiency of 10.12%. Furthermore, vertical electronic excitations, calculated using TD-DFT, are in good agreement with the experimental l max results, which clearly indicates that, the energy functional and basis set utilized in this study can be effectively employed for predicting the absorption spectra of novel photosensitizers, with high confidence prior to their synthesis. All these results provide a better understanding and deeper insight into the intricacies involved in the design of superior co-sensitizers to further improve the performance of DSSCs. This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2016Item From Molecular Design to Co-sensitization; High performance indole based photosensitizers for dye-sensitized solar cells(Elsevier Ltd, 2016) Babu, D.D.; Su, R.; El-Shafei, A.; Vasudeva Adhikari, A.V.Herein, we report the molecular design and synthesis of two novel organic co-adsorbers DBA-1((Z)-2-cyano-3-(5-(4-(cyclohexa-1,5-dien-3-ynyl(phenyl)amino)phenyl)-1-hexyl-1H-indol-3-yl)acrylic acid) and (DBA-2) 5-((5-(4-(diphenylamino)phenyl)-1-hexyl-1H-indol-3-yl)methylene)pyrimidine-2,4,6(1H,3H,5H)-trione with D-D-A (donor-donor-acceptor) architecture. We have combined the strong electron donating triphenylamine group with indole moiety attached to different acceptors/anchoring groups, as co-adsorbers for dye-sensitized solar cells and we present for the first time, the role of anchoring/acceptor unit on their co-adsorption properties. In this study, cyanoacetic acid and barbituric acid are employed as anchoring groups in the co-sensitizers DBA-1 and DBA-2, respectively. Their electrochemical and photo-physical properties along with molecular geometries, obtained from Density Functional Theory (DFT) are employed to vindicate the effect of co-sensitizer structures on photovoltaic properties of DSSCs. We have demonstrated that the co-sensitization effect is profoundly dependent upon the anchoring/acceptor unit in the co-adsorber molecule. Devices co-sensitized using DBA-1 and DBA-2 along with HD-2 (Ru-complex of 4, 4?-bis-(1,4-benzodioxan-5-yl-vinyl)-[2,2?]bipyridine), displayed higher power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) than the device sensitized using only HD-2. In the present work, ruthenium based sensitizer, HD-2, has been chosen due to its better solar-to-power conversion efficiency and impressively higher photocurrent densities than that of standard N719. Among them, co-adsorber DBA-2, containing barbituric acid as the acceptor/anchoring group displays promising photovoltaic results and exhibited an enhanced efficiency of 8.06%. Further, good agreement between the calculated and experimental results showcase the precision of the energy functional and basis set utilized in this study. All these findings provide a deeper insight and better understanding into the intricacies involved in the design of superior co-sensitizers for development of highly efficient DSSCs. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Item Highly efficient panchromatic dye-sensitized solar cells: Synergistic interaction of ruthenium sensitizer with novel co-sensitizers carrying different acceptor units(Elsevier Ltd, 2016) Babu, D.D.; Elsherbiny, D.; Cheema, H.; El-Shafei, A.; Vasudeva Adhikari, A.V.Herein, we report the molecular design, synthesis and photovoltaic performance studies of three new organic co-sensitizers, N1-3 carrying indole and thiophene units linked to different acceptors/anchoring groups, as co-adsorbents for dye sensitized solar cells. We present the role of anchoring/acceptor units on co-sensitization properties N1-3. Their photo-physical and electrochemical results along with molecular geometry, obtained from Density Functional Theory are utilized to rationalize the influence of co-sensitizer structures on photovoltaic properties for DSSCs. We have shown that, the co-sensitization effect is profoundly dependent upon the anchoring/acceptor unit in the co-adsorbents. Among them, N3 containing 4-aminobenzoic acid shows promising co-sensitization results and exhibits an enhanced efficiency of 9.26%, when co-sensitized with a ruthenium dye, HD-14. Further, the study highlights the importance of molecular matching between the sensitizer and co-sensitizer in enhancing the efficiency. Furthermore, vertical electronic excitations are calculated using time dependent density functional theory studies. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Item Synthesis and photovoltaic performance of a novel asymmetric dual-channel co-sensitizer for dye-sensitized solar cell beyond 10% efficiency(Elsevier Ltd, 2017) Babu, D.D.; Su, R.; Naik, P.; El-Shafei, A.; Vasudeva Adhikari, A.V.In this paper, we report the design and synthesis of a new bi-anchoring indole based co-sensitizer DBA-8 with A-?-D-A (acceptor-? bridge-donor-acceptor) architecture, carrying indole moiety as a donor and barbituric acid as acceptor/anchoring groups. Its photo-physical and electrochemical properties along with molecular geometries, calculated from Density Functional Theory (DFT) are employed to comprehend the effect of co-sensitizer structure on photovoltaic characteristics of DSSCs. The abovementioned organic dye (DBA-8) was employed as a co-sensitizer along with well-known ruthenium based sensitizer NCSU-10 in order to broaden the spectral responses of the co-sensitized DSSC. In the present work, for the first time we are demonstrating the profound role of a dual-anchoring co-sensitizer that can play in ameliorating the overall performance of a solar cell. The photovoltaic studies indicated that, the co-sensitizer DBA-8 succeeded in increasing the light harvesting ability in the device significantly. Notably, the device co-sensitized using 0.2 mM DBA-8 along with ruthenium based chromophore NCSU-10, showed a maximum efficiency of 10.68% (Jsc = 25.14 mAcm?2, Voc = 0.695 V, ff = 61.2%). Further, the good agreement between the theoretically and experimentally obtained ?max data vindicate that, the energy functional and basis set employed in this study can be successfully utilized for predicting the absorption spectra of new photosensitizers, with great precision before synthesis. Furthermore, all these findings showcase the vast potential of bi-anchoring molecules in improving the overall performance of the dye-sensitized solar cells. © 2017 Elsevier LtdItem Highly fluorescent materials derived from ortho-vanillin: Structural, photophysical electrochemical and theoretical studies(Elsevier B.V., 2019) Poojary, S.; Acharya, M.; Abdul Salam, A.A.; Kekuda, D.; Nayek, U.; Madan Kumar, S.; Vasudeva Adhikari, A.V.; Dhanya, D.Small-molecule organic fluorophores are highly in demand attributed to their extensive prospective in material and biomedical applications. Particularly, luminescent ?-conjugated organic molecules that possess an efficient solid-state emission are excellent candidates for optoelectronic devices. Focusing on high demand of organic fluorophores, we herein report the synthesis of three organic fluorescent materials derived from o?vanillin, viz. an ester (F1), an azine (F2) and an azo dye (F3). Interestingly, F2 exhibited very intense luminescence in its aggregate phase due to the restriction in intra-molecular rotation (RIR), as demonstrated by solution thickening studies. Further, its Single Crystal X-ray Crystallography (SCXRD) study suggested the existence of various intra and inter molecular interactions and gave evidences for locked intra-molecular rotations of the benzene rings in the rigid conformation of the molecule. The bathochromic shift in fluorescence from solution to solid phase was confirmed by its thin-film emission spectrum, which evidences the formation of J-aggregates. The observed RIR, development of J-aggregates and high conjugation in F2 impart an excellent fluorescence in its aggregated state. Thin films of both F2 and F3 on ITO plates exhibited a bathochromic shift with a deep orange to red photoluminescence on UV excitation. Furthermore, the morphological characterization revealed the presence of clear dense grains in case of F2 and F3, while the DSC analysis indicated phase transitions of all the derivatives. As seen from dielectric measurement studies, the azo dye F3 exhibited the highest dielectric constant among the three derivatives. The electronic and photophysical data based on Density Functional Theory (DFT) and Time Dependent-DFT (TD-DFT) calculations are in agreement with the experimental results. All the above data clearly advocate that, the synthesized fluorophoric o?vanillin derivatives are excellent candidates for electro-optical devices. © 2018 Elsevier B.V.Item Nicotinonitrile centered luminescent polymeric materials: Structural, optical, electrochemical, and theoretical investigations(John Wiley and Sons Inc, 2020) Pilicode, N.; Naik, P.; Vasudeva Adhikari, A.V.Herein, we describe the design, synthesis, and structural characterization of three new push-pull type conjugative polymers, that is, VPPy1-3 comprising strong electron-withdrawing N-heterocyclic nicotinonitrile scaffold coupled with electron-donating phenylene units through vinylene bridges, as promising candidates for optoelectronic applications. They were successfully synthesized from their respective co-monomers by simple polycondensation synthetic routes, viz. Knoevenagel and Wittig reactions. All the polymers were subjected to photophysical, electrochemical, thermal, and theoretical studies in order to ascertain their suitability in polymer light-emitting diode applications as blue emitters. Evidently, they are readily soluble in most of the organic solvents, enabling them easy solution-processable. These new polymers display strong blue photoluminescence at the peak in the range of 431 to 462 nm with a wide optical bandgap in the order of 2.55 to 2.63 eV. The obtained electrochemical data were employed to evaluate their HOMO/LUMOs. The density functional theory calculations generated useful information on their FMO, molecular geometries, and electronic properties. Also, the influence of their structural modification on the above-said properties was discussed in detail to reveal the structure-property relationship. Conclusively, these results illustrate the great prospective of this class of polymeric materials for the application in solution-processable blue LEDs. © 2020 Society of Plastics EngineersItem Synthesis, physicochemical properties and computational study of donor–acceptor polymer for optical limiting application(Springer Nature, 2020) Vishnumurthy, K.A.; Girish, K.H.; Vasudeva Adhikari, A.V.A new donor–acceptor configured ?-conjugated polymer P1 with alkoxy pendant groups having cyclic diimide and thiophene core moieties in polymer backbone were efficiently synthesized via polycondensation reaction. The incorporation of cyclic diimide in polymer increased the rigidity and thermal stability of polymer backbone aided by its high Tg value. These chromophores assisted in reducing the steric interaction of bulky alkoxy pendants which supported lowering the bandgap. The donor and acceptor moieties along with ? spacers were particularly chosen to enhance the ?-conjugation length in the polymer thereby increasing its nonlinear optical absorption i.e. two-photon absorption. The various structure–property relationships of the polymer were characterized by UV–Vis absorption, fluorescence emission, cyclic voltammetry, and density functional theory studies. The molecular nonlinear properties were theoretically evaluated through the calculation of polarizabilities and hyperpolarizabilities using time-dependent Hartree–Fock method. The polymer showed enhanced effective two-photon absorption with an absorption coefficient (?eff) of 2.031 × 10?10 m/W obtained from open aperture Z-scan analysis which is in good agreement with theoretical study. © 2020, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.