Acceptor engineering in triphenylamine-based push–pull dyes for enhanced photosensitization

Donor-acceptor dyes were designed by conjugating a common triphenylamine donor with acceptors of varying strengths to enhance Type I photosensitization efficiency. Among these, TTCF, featuring the strongest tricyanofuran acceptor, generated 2.4 times more superoxide radicals than the reference photosensitizer rose bengal, through aggregation-induced intersystem crossing leading to efficient electron transfer mechanisms.