Dye-sensitized solar cells using double-oxide electrodes: a brief review

Abstract

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSC or DSSC) have been widely investigated because of their potentially high cost performance compared with Si-based solar cells and of their fascinating appearance. DSC with photoelectric conversion efficiency of >10 % (or even 12 %) have been reported, where porous TiO2 films are generally used as semi-conductor electrodes. Such porous TiO2 films usually have high specific surface area, and thus, they adsorb plenty of dye molecules, resulting in high photocurrent density. Recently, some double oxides have been examined as alternative photoanode materials, mainly in order to improve photovoltage. Here, studies on DSC using double-oxide electrodes, i.e., perovskite, spinel, ilmenite, wolframite, scheelite and pseudobrookite-types, are briefly reviewed.