The Effect of 1,4-Diaminoanthraquinone as a Conductive Linker in Chromophore Functionalized Gold Nanoparticles

A novel dye for use in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) is described. Chromophore functionalized gold nanoparitcles (AuNP) have been useful as light harvesting dyes in DSSCs, however one persistent problem is charge recombination which adversely affects the final electrical output of these systems. Limiting this phenomenon would lead to increased incident photon to current efficiency (IPCE) and thus greater power output. Using AM1 calculations of the relative energies of the excited state of the light harvesting portion of the dye and the conduction band of colloidal AuNP in solution, a multi-component dye where electrons would be more likely to flow through this conductive linker than to follow other undesired deactivation pathways was designed. In order to decrease this charge recombination, an attempt was made to insert 1,4-diaminoanthraquinone (1,4-DAAQ) between pyrene and the AuNP to serve as a conductive linker.