Metalloporphyrins in Solar Energy Conversion

Abstract

There is a growing demand to utilize carbon neutral energy sources, such as solar energy, to meet energy demands of modern world. In this regard, dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) and thin-layer bulk heterojunction solar cells have attracted much attention as an alternative to relatively expensive silicon-based solar cells. Among various photosensitizers utilized to build these porphyrins have emerged out to be outstanding candidates due to their strong absorption in the visible region, and established methods of core and peripheral modifications to fine-tune their geometry and electronic structures. The present chapter critically reviews the progress made in recent years on dye-sensitized bulk heterojunction supramolecular solar cells based on molecularly engineered porphyrin sensitizers. To-date, the power conversion efficiency has increased up to ∼13 % using a push–pull porphyrin systems with a cobalt-based redox shuttle, an efficiency that has already outperformed those of ruthenium-based sensitizers. Moreover, research topics that need further scrutiny/improvement within porphyrin-based DSSCs to further improve the solar cell efficiency are highlighted in each subsection.