Significant Improvement in Light Harvesting Efficiency of Naphthalene Imide Derivative Dyes via Linker Engineering for p-type Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells


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Yurdakul E. B., YILDIZ A., Ela S. E., ERDOĞDU Y.

Gazi University Journal of Science, cilt.39, sa.3, ss.1705-1717, 2026 (ESCI, Scopus, TRDizin)

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 39 Sayı: 3
  • Basım Tarihi: 2026
  • Doi Numarası: 10.35378/gujs.1886026
  • Dergi Adı: Gazi University Journal of Science
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI), Scopus, TR DİZİN (ULAKBİM), Academic Search Ultimate (EBSCO), Biomedical Reference Collection: Corporate Edition (EBSCO), Engineering Source (EBSCO)
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.1705-1717
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: Dft, Homo, Lumo, Naphthalene imide, P-Dssc
  • Açık Arşiv Koleksiyonu: AVESİS Açık Erişim Koleksiyonu
  • Gazi Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

A set of carbazole–naphthalene imide dyes with various linkers (phenyl, thiophene, furan) was designed and theoretically examined. The electronic structures, absorbance characteristics, and free-energy parameters, including hole injection (ΔGinject), dye regeneration (ΔGreg), and charge recombination (ΔGCR), were calculated. The furan-linked dye-3 displayed the most equilibrated profile of the investigated dyes, integrating a red-shifted absorption spectrum with advantageous ΔGreg and ΔGCR values. These findings emphasize linker engineering as a viable design approach to enhance orbital alignment, increase light-harvesting efficiency, and mitigate recombination in p-DSSCs, while also indicating the necessity for subsequent experimental verification. All computations were implemented utilizing Density Functional Theory (DFT) and Time-Dependent DFT (TD-DFT) with Gaussian 09 software. Geometries were optimized employing the conductor-like polarizable continuum model (C-PCM) with chlorobenzene as the solvent at the B3LYP/6-311G(d,p) theoretical level. Molecular orbitals, absorbance spectra, ionization potentials, electron affinities, reorganization energies, and thermodynamic driving forces (ΔGinject, ΔGreg, ΔGCR) were obtained from these computations to elucidate structure–property correlations related to p-DSSCs functionality.