Panchromatic engineering for dye-sensitized solar cells

Abstract

The dye-sensitized mesoscopic solar cell has been intensively investigated as a promising photovoltaic cell. Its ecological and economical fabrication processes make it attractive and credible alternative to conventional photovoltaic systems. In contrast to the latter design, the DSC approach separates tasks of light absorption and charge transport. The primary step of light absorption is performed by a sensitizer anchored to the surface of a wide band gap semiconductor. In order to reach a high conversion efficiency, the first requirement is that the sensitizer should absorb as much as possible of the incoming sunlight. Strategies for achieving panchromatic response in dye-sensitized mesoscopic solar cells are discussed.

Plasmon-enhanced photocurrent in quasi-solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells by the inclusion of gold/silica core–shell nanoparticles in a TiO2 photoanode

“…A large body of research has been conducted to enhance the light harvesting efficiency in TiO 2 photoanodes. In this context, the development of more efficient dye sensitizers, including organic dyes with a higher extinction coefficient 5,6 and energy-relay dyes, 7 and their effective utilization methods, such as cocktail dye 8,9 and selective dye adsorption 10,11 concepts, have prevailed. In addition, the introduction of a scattering layer and inverse opal nanostructures are also common.…”

Triblock‐Terpolymer‐Directed Self‐Assembly of Mesoporous TiO2: High‐Performance Photoanodes for Solid‐State Dye‐Sensitized Solar Cells

“…Since O'Regan's and Grätzel's ground breaking work in 1991, 3 this is usually realized by the sintering of TiO 2 nanoparticles into a random network, which delivers over a thousand-fold increase in surface area in a ten micron thick film, as compared to a flat film. Significant progress has since been achieved, mostly by the development of new sensitizers, 4 light management in the device [5][6][7] and increasing the long term stability. 8 However, since electron transport is very slow in this photoanode, this long established champion electrode faces serious limitations with the development of solid-state DSCs (ss-DSC) which employ an organic hole-transporter as the redox mediator.…”

Self-assembly as a design tool for the integration of photonic structures into excitonic solar cells

“…4 The development towards dyes with a panchromatic absorption spectrum is of central importance in this respect. 5 A complimentary route to reach broader absorption is the integration of optical elements in the device architecture. These can increase the optical path of the light and thereby the probability of the photons to be absorbed.…”