A new high molar extinction coefficient heteroleptic ruthenium(II) complex (m-BL-1) that contains a 4,4'4"-tricaboxy-2,2':6’,2”-terpyridine, 4,4’-bis-[3,5-di-tert-butyl-phenyl)-vinyl]-[2,2']bipyridyl and a thiocyanate ligand in its molecular structure has been synthesized and completely characterized by CHN, Mass, 1H-NMR, UV-Vis, and fluorescence spectroscopies as well as cyclic voltammetry. The new sensitizer was tested in dye-sensitized solar cells using three different redox electrolytes and compared its performance to that of standard sensitizer black dye.
