Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0009-0008-3680-1949

Document Type

Thesis

Date of Award

2025

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Chemistry

First Advisor

Kadarkaraisamy Mariappan

Abstract

There is an energy crisis and needs to start transitioning to renewable energies such as solar energy globally. A promising new type of solar energy has recently gained a lot of attraction, Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSCs). Ruthenium complexes are recognized as one of the best dyes(s) that can absorb light energy efficiently when it binds to Titanium (IV) Dioxide. This combination is used in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells as a photosensitizer. We focus on synthesizing a ruthenium complex (5) with a dipyrazolylpyridine ligand (3) integrated with anchoring groups such as carboxylic acid (-COOH). The novel ruthenium complex is synthesized in multistep reactions (5) and characterized by NMR, ESI-MS and cyclic voltammetry. We are also reporting brief photophysical studies on the new ruthenium complexes. The dipyrazolylpyridine ligand (3) is also a good candidate for sensing Ca(II) ions through its emission property. The optical properties of the dipyrazolylpyridine ligand (3) were studied with a series of metal ions and we found that it selectively recognizes Ca(II) with a small interference from Zn(II). We also found that the Ca(II) is interacting with the dipyrazolylpyridine ligand (3) in 1:2 fashion and we did the Job’s plot to confirm this. The binding constant of compound 3 with Ca(II) is found to be 3.8 x109 M-2.

Subject Categories

Chemistry

Keywords

Dipyrazolylpyridine Dye-sensitized solar cells Fluorescence Ligation Photosensitizer Ruthenium complex

Number of Pages

69

Publisher

Uiversity of South Dakota

Available for download on Wednesday, September 09, 2026

Included in

Chemistry Commons

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