In this work, ruthenium(II)bis(2,2'-bipyridyl4,4'-dicarboxylicacid)(pyrazine)bis(tetrafluroborate) [Ru(II)(dcbpy)₂(pyz)]_n(BF₄)_2n] based metal organic polymer (RuMOP-Pyz-1), was synthesized at room temperature under inert atmosphere and their performance in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) were studied. The metal organic polymer was prepared by coupling pyrazine as linker units with the Ru(II) dicarboxylated based mono metallic complex. The UV-visible absorption profiles covered a broad range of absorption and the formation of polymer leads to shift in the absorption wavelength. The metal mediated π-conjugation units in the polymer complex exhibit a strong emission at λ_em = 552 nm with an excitation wavelength of 395 nm. The synthesized metallo-polymer was employed as a sensitizer in DSSC and the maximum power conversion efficiency (PCE) value of ɳ = 1.507 % with short circuit current (J_sc) of 3.22 mA/cm²; open circuit voltage (V_oc) 0.684 V and Fill Factor (FF) of 68.45 % under Air Mass (AM) 1.5 G simulated sunlight at a light intensity of 100 mW/cm² was obtained. The efficiency of the device and its photovoltaic performances were found to be satisfactory. The enhanced performance of the device is attributed to the presence of extended conjugation of the metallo polymer which helps in a facile electron transfer from the HOMO to LUMO of TiO₂.

Keywords: DSSC, metallo-polymer, poly-Ru(II)dicarboxylated bipyridyl, pyrazine, photovoltaic, sensitizer