LAUSR

Abstract Three cyclic thiourea functionalized triphenylamine based sensitizers were designed and synthesized that contain a furan, a bifuran and a furan-thiophene linker unit and cyanoacrylic acid as the acceptor group. The photophysical, electrochemical and DSSC properties were investigated. The UV–Vis absorption spectrum of the dye with a furan-thiophene linker is broader than that of the bithiophene dye (with a 14 nm red shift in the absorption maximum). The photovoltaic measurements show that the conversion efficiencies of the furan, bifuran and furn-thiphene linked dyes are 6.81% ( J sc  = 13.84 mA cm −2 , V oc  = 726.79 mV and FF  = 0.68); 7.44% ( J sc  = 14.48 mA cm −2 , V oc  = 744.52 mV and FF  = 0.69); 7.66% ( J sc  = 16.71 mA cm −2 , V oc  = 717.83 mV and FF  = 0.64), respectively. The twist angles of the dyes between donor and π-linker were calculated by DFT calculations and correlated with their photophysical absorption spectra. The photovoltaic properties were also discussed by comparison with the known bithiophene spacer dye.