Sterically Hindered Phthalocyanines for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells: Influence of the Distance between the Aromatic Core and the Anchoring Group

A new phthalocyanine (Pc) bearing bulky peripheral substituents and a carboxylic anchoring group directly attached to the macrocycle has been prepared and used as a sensitizer in DSSCs, reaching 5.57% power conversion efficiency. In addition, an enhanced performance for the TT40 dye, previously reported by us, was achieved in optimized devices, obtaining a new record efficiency with Pc-sensitized cells.