The photoelectrochemical approach to photoinduced water splitting is gaining increasing interest for solar fuels generation. Dye‐sensitized photoelectrochemical cells (DS‐PEC) have been studied to improve the collection of the Vis range of solar radiation. Metal complexes have so far been the most investigated dyes but in recent years metal‐free organic dyes have emerged as a new frontier for the evolution of the sector. This Minireview systematically describes the use of organic sensitizers and has been organized in terms of dye‐sensitized photoactive electrode(s): photoanode; photocathode; tandem DS‐PEC with photoanode and photocathode. The main classes of dyes are introduced and described in their key properties, device performance, and water splitting data. Thanks to the increasing number of articles, this review highlights the growing importance of organic sensitizers and their molecular design for a more efficient solar generation of clean fuels.
Covalent attachment of molecules to metal oxide surfaces typically demands the presence of an anchoring group that in turn requires synthetic steps to introduce. BODIPY (4,4-difluoro-4-bora-3a,4a-diaza-s-indacene) chromophores have long been...
A series of functionalized ferrocene derivatives carrying electron-donor and electron-withdrawing (hetero)aromatic substituents has been designed as potential alternative electrolyte redox couples for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC). The compounds have been synthesized and fully characterized in their optical and electrochemical properties. A general synthetic approach that implies the use of a microwave assisted Suzuki coupling has been developed to access a significative number of compounds. The presence of different electron-rich and electron-poor substituents provided fine tuning of optical properties and energy levels. HOMO and LUMO energy values showed that the substitution of one or two cyclopentadienyl rings of ferrocene can be successfully exploited to increase the maximum attainable voltage from a standard DSSC device using TiO2 as a semiconductor, opening the way to highly efficient, non-toxic, and cheap redox shuttles to be employed in solar energy technologies.
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