Theoretical Study on Electronic, Optical, and Charge Transfer Properties of Starburst Triphenylamine as Sensibilizer @TiO2 Cluster for Dye-sensitized Solar Cells

Here, a series of starburst triphenylamine(WD8) derivatives for dye-sensitized solar cells(DSSCs) applications have been designed. The frontier molecular orbitals(FMOs) property, absorption spectra, and charge transfer rate property of WD8 and its derivatives were simulated. We also evaluated the FMOs energies and absorption spectra of WD8 and its derivatives with the TiO2 cluster. The simulation results show that the phenothiazine-triphenylamine and 2-cyanoacetic acid groups in the ortho-position will increase the HOMO energy, decrease the LUMO energy, and narrow the HOMO-LUMO gap of WD8. The charge injection from WD8 and its derivatives to TiO2 should be more favorable. The phenothiazine-triphenylamine and 2-cyanoacetic acid groups in the ortho-position will decrease the electron and hole injection barriers of WD8. The phenothiazinetriphenylamine and 2-cyanoacetic acid groups in the ortho-position will improve the absorption spectra properties of WD8. The absorption spectra of WD8 and its derivatives with the TiO2 cluster would have a red shift. The phenothiazine-triphenylamine and 2-cyanoacetic acid groups in the ortho-position will increase the charge transfer property of WD8.