Abstract
To explore high efficiency dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), two experimentally derived (single fence and double fence porphyrins) and two theoretically designed zinc porphyrin molecules with D–D–π–A–A configurations were studied. Density functional theory and time-dependent density functional theory were employed to simulate these two experimental dyes and dye@TiO
2
systems to understand why the double fence porphyrin molecule exhibits better photovoltaic performance than the single fence porphyrin molecule. For the short-circuit current (
J
SC
), the various parameters that affected the experimental magnitude of
J
SC
were analyzed from different aspects of absorption, charge transfer and chemical parameters as well as an electron injection process. The almost equal open-circuit voltages (
V
OC
) in the experiment were predicted by theoretical
V
OC
calculations. Our model predicted power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of 1.993% and 10.866% for the single and double fence molecules, respectively, which are in accordance with the experimental values of 3.48% and 10.69%, respectively. In addition, one designed two new molecules based on the double fence porphyrin molecule with a 2-methyl-2
H
-benzo[
d
][1,2,3]triazole (BTA) unit bearing one fluorine and two fluorine atoms as the guest acceptor, respectively. Compared to the original molecules, the engineered molecules significantly improved the photovoltaic parameters,
J
SC
and
V
OC
, thereby causing excellent PCEs. The most outstanding designed molecule reached a PCE of 12.155%, and is considered a candidate dye for high-efficiency DSSC. This study provides insights into the photoelectric properties of single and double fence porphyrins. It also demonstrated that the strong electron-withdrawing ability of fluorine atoms would enhance the photovoltaic performance and provide a guideline for the further design of double fence porphyrins.