Synthesis of peripherally tetra substituted neutral azophenoxy zinc phthalocyanine and its application in bulk hetero junction solar cells

Synthesis and Characterization of New-Type Soluble β-Substituted Zinc Phthalocyanine Derivative of Clofoctol

In this work, we have described the synthesis and characterization of novel zinc (II) phthalocyanine bearing four 2-(2,4-dichloro-benzyl)-4-(1,1,3,3-tetramethyl-butyl)-phenoxy substituents on the peripheral positions. The compound was characterized by elemental analysis and different spectroscopic techniques, such as FT-IR, ¹H NMR, MALDI-TOF, and UV-Vis. The Zn (II) phthalocyanine shows excellent solubility in organic solvents such as dichloromethane (DCM), n-hexane, chloroform, tetrahydrofuran (THF), and toluene. Photochemical and electrochemical characterizations of the complex were performed by UV-Vis, fluorescence spectroscopy, and cyclic voltammetry. Its good solubility allows a direct deposition of this compound as film, which has been tested as a solid-state sensing material in gravimetric chemical sensors for gas detection, and the obtained results indicate its potential for qualitative discrimination and quantitative assessment of various volatile organic compounds, among them methanol, n-hexane, triethylamine (TEA), toluene and DCM, in a wide concentration range.

Novel Azocoumarin Derivatives—Synthesis and Characterization

The paper presents synthesis and characterization of nine new thiazolyl-(phenyldiazenyl)-2H-chromen-2-one dyes. The impact of substituent structure in thiazole ring in the synthesized azocoumarin derivatives on electrochemical properties, photoisomerization process and photovoltaic response was examined. The dyes were electrochemically active and undergo reduction and oxidation processes. They showed low electrochemically estimated energy band gap in the range of 1.71–2.13 eV. Photoisomerization process of the synthesized molecules was studied in various solvents such as ethanol, chloroform and N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) upon the UV illumination. It was found that novel azodyes showed reversible trans-cis-trans isomerization and exhibited long thermal back to the trans form, that was even 7 days in DMF. Selected azocoumarin were molecularly dispersed in polystyrene for preparation of guest-host azopolymer systems to study the cis-trans thermal isomerization of obtained dyes in solid state. The photovoltaic activity of the azochromophores was tested in bulk-heterojunction solar cells. They acting as weak donors in device with structure ITO/PEDOT:PSS/dye:PC70BM/Al. No photovoltaic response of cells with azocoumarin derivatives bearing 4-fluorobenzene, 3,4-dichlorobenzene, or 4-(1-adamantyl) unit was found. Additionally, dye which showed the best activity was examined in three-component solar cells ITO/PEDOT:PSS/PTB7:PC70BM:dye/PFN/Al.

Synthesis of 5-Alkyl- and 5-Phenylamino-Substituted Azothiazole Dyes with Solvatochromic and DNA-Binding Properties

A series of new 5-mono- and 5,5'-bisamino-substituted azothiazole derivatives was synthesized from the readily available diethyl azothiazole-4,4'-dicarboxylate. This reaction most likely comprises an initial Michael-type addition by the respective primary alkyl and aromatic amines at the carbon atom C5 of the substrate. Subsequently, the resulting intermediates are readily oxidized by molecular oxygen to afford the amino-substituted azothiazole derivatives. The latter exhibit remarkably red-shifted absorption bands (λabs =507-661 nm) with high molar extinction coefficients and show a strong positive solvatochromism. As revealed by spectrometric titrations and circular and linear dichroism studies, the water-soluble, bis-(dimethylaminopropylamino)-substituted azo dye associates with duplex DNA by formation of aggregates along the phosphate backbone at high ligand-DNA ratios (LDR) and by intercalation at low LDR, which also leads to a significant increase of the otherwise low emission intensity at 671 nm.

BODIPY substituted zinc(II) phthalocyanine and its bulk heterojunction application in solar cells

A novel asymmetrical zinc(II) phthalocyanine-BODIPY conjugate (ZnPc-BODIPY) bearing three iodine groups directly substituted to the macrocycle and one BODIPY connected to the macrocycle with an amide bond was synthesized by the reaction of carboxylic-acid-substituted asymmetrical zinc(II) phthalocyanine (ZnPc) with the BODIPY-derivative-bearing amino group (BODIPY-NH2). This conjugate was fully characterized by spectroscopic methods (FT-IR, UV-vis, 1H NMR, 11B NMR, 19F NMR and mass) and elemental analysis. The fluorescence behavior of ZnPc-BODIPY was studied to determine the energy transfer process. Voltammetry measurements (CV and SWV) were performed to specify the HOMO–LUMO energy levels and band gaps of ZnPc-BODIPY and starting compounds (ZnPc and BODIPY-NH2) for comparison. In addition, the band gaps of these compounds were also determined by UV-vis absorption onset (λonset) and theoretical calculations. Bulk heterojunction solar cells containing ZnPc-BODIPY were fabricated in the structure of ITO/PEDOT:PSS/ZnPc-BODIPY:PCBM/Al. The photovoltaic parameters of the solar cell were obtained and the ZnPc-BODIPY conjugate was found to bring spectral contribution to IPCE at a peak of 510 nm.