DFT And DFTB Investigations On Α–Mangostin Dye Adsorbed On Titanium Dioxide Electrode In DSSCs Application

Abstract

Conformations of α–mangostin dye (1,3,6–Trihydroxy–7–methoxy–2,8–bis(3–methyl–2–buten–1–yl)–9H–xanthen–9–one) were studied and three conformers were found as three co-existing species in various media (in vacuo, acetonitrile and water). Geometries, electronic structures and UV–Vis spectra of all conformers in various media have been obtained using density functional theory (DFT) and time–dependent DFT (TD–DFT) methods. The conformers of α–mangostin dye were inspected as photosensitizers for application in dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) and their light–harvesting efficiencies (LHEs) within the range of 0.6757–0.7556 eV (in vacuo), 0.8286–0.8466 eV (in acetonitrile) and 0.8288–0.8465 eV (in water) were obtained. The open circuit voltage (VOC) of three conformers within the range of 2.07 to 2.14 eV (in vacuo) and 1.96 to 1.97 eV (in solvents) which may be acceptable for DSSCs were found.