Abstract
A new ferrocene-containing hydronitrate salt with formula N-methylferrocenyl-N-ethylhydroxy ammonium nitrate has been synthesized and characterized using microanalyses, UV-Vis, fluorescence, cyclic voltammetry as well H-1 and C-13 NMR spectroscopy and finally by single-crystal X-ray diffraction technique. The solid-state structure of the compound is stabilized by several O-H center dot center dot center dot ONO2 and N-H center dot center dot center dot ONO2 hydrogen bonding interactions and which lead to the formation of 2D sheet. Also, C-H center dot center dot center dot pi interaction is also evinced in the solid state which further stabilizes the cation. These interactions have been addressed with the aid of Hirshfeld surface analyses and fingerprint plots. The cation has been used as sensitizer in dye-sensitized solar cell and displayed short-circuit current (J(sc)) and open-circuit potential (V-oc) parameters of 6.80 mA cm(-2) and 0.63 V, respectively, while the efficiency (eta) of the cell setup is 3.1%.