DFT and TD-DFT studies on symmetrical squaraine dyes for nanocrystalline solar cells

Abstract

The ground-state geometries, electronic structures, and electronic absorption spectra of symmetrical squaraine dyes SQ1–SQ4 were investigated using density functional theory and time-dependent DFT at the B3LYP level. The calculated geometries indicate that strong conjugation effects occur in the dyes. The highest occupied molecular orbital energy levels were calculated to be −4.95, −5.22, −5.09, and −5.06 eV, and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital energies were −2.72, −3.05, −2.80, and −2.80 eV for SQ1–SQ4, respectively. Taking the conduction band energy of TiO2 into account, these data reveal the sensitized mechanism: the interfacial electron transfer between the semiconductor TiO2 electrode and the dye sensitizers SQ1–SQ4 are electron-injection processes from excited dyes to the semiconductor conduction band. The intense calculated absorption bands are assigned to π → π* transitions, which exhibit appreciable blue-shift compared with the experimental absorption maxima due to the inherent approximations in the TD-DFT.