Photoisomerization of the cyanoacrylic acid acceptor group--a potential problem for organic dyes in solar cells.

Organic solar cell dyes containing the most common anchoring group, cyanoacrylic acid, are shown to be photolabile and undergo photoisomerization. This may have significant consequences for dye-sensitized solar cells, as isomerisation competes with electron injection and leads to modifications of the dye and surface arrangement.