Babu, D.D.Elsherbiny, D.Cheema, H.El-Shafei, A.Vasudeva Adhikari, A.V.2026-02-052016Dyes and Pigments, 2016, 132, , pp. 316-3281437208https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dyepig.2016.05.016https://idr.nitk.ac.in/handle/123456789/25942Herein, we report the molecular design, synthesis and photovoltaic performance studies of three new organic co-sensitizers, N<inf>1-3</inf> 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 N<inf>1-3</inf>. 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, N<inf>3</inf> 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.Dye-sensitized solar cellsEfficiencyPolycyclic aromatic hydrocarbonsRutheniumSolar cellsSolar power generationAcceptorsElectronic excitationIndolePhotovoltaic performancePhotovoltaic propertyRuthenium sensitizersSynergistic interactionTime dependent density functional theoryDensity functional theory