Photoelectrochemical Polymerization for Solid-State Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells.

Abstract

Dye-sensitized solar cells represent promising alternative photovoltaic (PV) technologies with the advantages of low material cost, ease of production, and high performance for indoor applications. Solid-state DSCs (ssDSCs) have been developed to greatly diminish the problems of electrolyte leakage and electrode corrosion. However, the power conversion efficiency of ssDSCs generally is much lower than traditional liquid DSCs, resulting in low conductivity and poor pore infiltration of solid HTMs in mesoporous structures. To overcome these problems, in situ photoelectrochemical polymerization (PEP) approach is developed to synthesize polymer HTMs in the porous electrodes, enabling enhancement of pore infiltration fraction and conductivity. The PEP method offers great opportunities for engineering the HTM interfaces, tuning the charge dynamics, and improving the PV performance of ssDSCs. Here the authors aim to present a coherent review of the recent development of material engineering and interfacial optimization for ssDSCs. The recent advances in the PEP are also summarized, with special emphasis on how the influencing factors control the PEP kinetics, the polymer properties as well as the device performance. This review provides a deep understanding of the mechanism of photopolymerization across different conditions, which serves as a guidebook for further optimization of the PEP process for ssDSCs.