摘要： A series of systematically tailored aryl acyclic (biphenyl, dye 1 and 2) and cyclic (phenanthrene, dye 3 and 4) and methyl-substituted (dye 5) imidazole derivatives were synthesized and characterized for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) application. Anisole ancillary donor was attached to -NH position in the imidazole center to obtain dye 2 and 4. Cyclic voltammetry and UV-visible studies of all the dyes indicate their suitability for DSSC application. Among the synthesized dyes, dye 4 having phenanthrene donor and anisole ancillary donor showed highest power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 7.16% (JSC = 13.07 mA/cm2, VOC = 0.831 V, FF = 0.659). Dye 2 displayed the highest electron lifetime in the conduction band of photoanode and hence the open circuit voltage of DSSC based on dye 2 was highest among the dyes studied (0.865 V). By using a novel potential assisted dye staining process, the dye loading on the photoanode is enhanced by 18% in 1h, which in turn enhanced the PCE to 8.10%.