Trans-thioindigo as a possible dye for solar collectors

Abstract

The optical and electrical efficiencies of thioindigo and six BASF dyes, all doped in PMMA, were determined. Optical efficiencies of about 10.7% for thioindigo and 11.3% for the BASF dye no.339 were obtained. Consequently the efficiency of an attached silicon solar cell was raised by about 1.7%; these values were better than those measured for any other dyes tested.

Synthesis and Photophysics of Thioindigo Diimines and Related Compounds

“…5−8 Because of its intense fluorescence, thioindigo has been explored as a dye for fluorescent solar collectors. 9,10 Thioindigos have also been investigated as organic semiconductors and charge generation devices. 11,12 Additionally, thioindigo is a photochromic compound, undergoing photoinduced trans−cis isomerization.…”

“…Like indigo, thioindigo is a commercially available dye used in pigments and coatings . The spectral and photophysical properties of the two molecules, however, differ significantly, which in the 1950s led to extensive studies of the excited-state behavior of thioindigo. − More recently, indigo has also become the subject of photophysical investigation. − Because of its intense fluorescence, thioindigo has been explored as a dye for fluorescent solar collectors. , Thioindigos have also been investigated as organic semiconductors and charge generation devices. , Additionally, thioindigo is a photochromic compound, undergoing photoinduced trans–cis isomerization. The photoinduced isomerization has been studied in solution, − monolayers, and thin films , and on solid support .…”

Diastereomerically Differentiated Excited State Behavior in Ruthenium(II) Hexafluoroacetylacetonate Complexes of Diphenyl Thioindigo Diimine

“…Extensive investigation of thioindigo was carried out, most notably by Wyman and co-workers, throughout the second half of the 20th century as researchers sought a foundational understanding of thioindigo’s photophysical characteristics and the mechanisms enabling them. − Beginning in the 1980s, interest shifted to using thioindigo and its derivatives for materials applications. This has generated a steady flow of reports examining thioindigo-based compounds for use in organic semiconductors and charge generation devices, as organic electrodes for batteries, sensitizers for dye sensitized solar cells, and fluorescent solar collectors , and in liquid crystals , and ion transport …”

“…14−21 Beginning in the 1980s, interest shifted to using thioindigo and its derivatives for materials applications. This has generated a steady flow of reports examining thioindigo-based compounds for use in organic semiconductors 22 and charge generation devices, 23 as organic electrodes for batteries, 24 sensitizers for dye sensitized solar cells, 25 and fluorescent solar collectors 26,27 and in liquid crystals 28,29 and ion transport. 30 Despite the abundance of available literature on thioindigo, no examples of metal complexes featuring thioindigo or thioindigo derivatives as ligands currently exist in the literature.…”

Structural and optical characterizations of thin organic films of thioindigo

“…As a result, even with monochromatic light incident on a sample under the condition of maximum absorption for either of the form, only photostationary states containing a mixture of the two isomers, cis and trans, could be prepared [9]. The stability of PMMA-doped TI used as a solar collector has been studied by irradiating it with a light of 1600 W xenon lamp through a daylight filter for 24 h [12]. The optical efficiency (10.7%) has been measured before irradiation, and a slight decrease (0.052) in the efficiency has been observed after irradiation.…”