Two novel metal-free organic dyes containing thienothiophene and thiophene segments have been synthesized. Nano-crystalline TiO2 dye-sensitized solar cells were fabricated using these dyes as light-harvesting sensitizers, and a high solar energy-to-electricity conversion efficiency of 6.23% was achieved.

A new method for the synthesis of industrially important azoimidazolium dyes is presented. The procedure is based on a reagent which is rarely used in the context of synthetic organic chemistry: nitrous oxide ("laughing gas"). N2O is first coupled to N-heterocyclic carbenes. Subsequent reaction with aromatic compounds through an AlCl3-induced C-H activation process provides azoimidazolium dyes ...

We demonstrate strong spectral dependence of the efficiency of fluorescence quenching in molecular systems composed of organic dyes and gold nanoparticles. In order to probe the coupling with metallic nanoparticles we use dyes with varied spectral overlap between the plasmon resonance and their absorption. Hybrid molecular structures were obtained via conjugation of metallic nanoparticles with ...

New phenothiazine-based organic dyes with two anchoring groups at 3,7 positions and systematic alkyl chains on nitrogen were prepared. Their TiO(2)-Pt composites showed excellent photo-catalytic activities in visible light-induced water splitting. Interestingly, phenothiazine dyes with longer alkyl chains showed better stability in catalytic systems.

A family of seven organic triphenylamine-based dyes suitable for dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) applications is reported. The donor portion of these dyes has been systematically modified using polymerisable thienyl subunits. The physicochemical properties and device performance are discussed with device efficiencies ranging from 5.51 to 6.65%.

The co-sensitization of organic silyl-anchor dyes in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) using carbazole and coumarin dyes with organosilicon tethers for binding to titanium dioxide has been examined. We have succeeded in fabricating a high-performance DSSC with a light-to-electric energy conversion efficiency of 12.8% under one sun simulated solar irradiation.

This tutorial review will focus on the removal of organic pollutants from the aqueous phase by mesoporous silica. After a brief discussion about mesosilica formation (MCM-41 and SBA-15) and silica surface modification, the review will focus on the use of mesosilica for the removal of (i) organic compounds, (ii) organic dyes, or (iii) pharmaceuticals from aqueous solutions.

The development of a low-cost, sensitive colorimetric sensor array for the detection and identification of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) is reported. Using an array composed of chemoresponsive dyes, enormous discriminatory power is possible in a simple device that can be imaged easily with an ordinary flatbed scanner. Excellent differentiation of closely related organic compounds can be ach...

Cosensitization of broadly absorbing ruthenium metal complex dyes with highly absorptive near-infrared (NIR) organic dyes is a clear pathway to increase near-infrared light harvesting in liquid-based dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs). In cosensitized DSCs, dyes are intimately mixed, and intermolecular charge and energy transfer processes play an important role in device performance. Here, we de...

Organic dyes are useful tools for sensing cellular activities but unfavorable in single-molecule imaging, whereas quantum dots (QDs) are widely applied in single-molecule imaging but with few sensing applications. Here, to visualize cellular activities by monitoring the response of a single probe in living cells, we propose a bottom-up approach to generate nanoprobes where four organic dyes are...