Review on Low‐Cost Counter Electrode Materials for Dye‐Sensitized Solar Cells: Effective Strategy to Improve Photovoltaic Performance

Abstract

The photoelectric conversion efficiency (PCE) of dye‐sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) can be remarkably improved by optimizing the catalytic activity and charge transfer ability of the counter electrode (CE) materials. The attentive hotspots of CE catalysts for DSSCs are to design multifunctional materials that balance the fabrication cost, environmental friendliness, PCE, and electrochemical stability, then to achieve the substitution of the benchmark Pt. In this review, the four effective strategies are highlighted for further improving the photovoltaic performance of the DSSCs based on low‐cost CE materials, such as heteroatom‐doped materials, development of noble metal‐free chalcogenides with well‐controlled facets, construction of heterostructure, and synthesis of composites with a synergistic effect. In some typical examples, the influence of these strategies on catalytic activity, charge transfer ability, and reaction mechanism are elucidated by the theoretical calculation. Then the research opportunities and the challenges for the high‐efficiency DSSCs based on low‐cost CE materials are presented.

Electron Acceptability of Cyclopenta-Fused Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons: Effect of One Electron

“…Research on rational design of solar cells has continued to garner significant attention and has made considerable progress in developing sustainable photovoltaic technology. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] To improve the efficiency of organic photovoltaic (OPV) cells, various new design strategies have recently been developed. [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28] For example, Cnops et al improved the small-molecule OPV efficiencies to 8.5% by exploiting long-range exciton energy transfer.…”

Development of High‐Performance UV Solidification All‐Solid‐State Dye‐Sensitized Solar Cells

“…[ 3 ] Therefore, for the sake of long‐term durability, traditional DSSCs require further development to enable large‐scale manufacturing and wide‐range commercialization. [ 4 ] Among the many research directions, the all‐solid‐state DSSC (ssDSSC) is the best candidate to address the poor device stability performance. [ 5 ]…”

Edge-Active Enriched MoS2 Porous Nanosheets as Efficient Pt-Free Catalysts toward the Triiodide Reduction Reaction

“…As we all know, the noble metal platinum (Pt) is still used as the state-of-the-art CE catalyst in the energy conversion field owing to its high catalytic activity and fast electron transfer capability. However, high cost and the corrosion of Pt in iodine-, cobalt-, and sulfur-based electrolytes are becoming a stumbling block for their further applications. − To settle the above-mentioned problem and meet the demand of cost-effective CE catalysts, several Pt-free CE materials based on earth-abundant elements were proposed. The typical Pt-free catalysts can be divided into the carbonaceous materials, − nitrides (phosphides), − transition metal sulfides, − and composites. − Among these alternative CE materials, early transition metal sulfides with a unique two-dimensional (2D) layer structure have aroused considerable attention owing to their Pt-like catalytic activity for the IRR and relatively good electrochemical stability.…”