Abstract
Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) have been intensely researched for more than two decades. Electrolyte formulations are one of the bottlenecks to their successful commercialization, since these result in trade-offs between the photovoltaic performance and long-term performance stability. The corrosive nature of the redox shuttles in the electrolytes is an additional limitation for industrial-scale production of DSSCs, especially with low cost metallic electrodes. Numerous electrolyte formulations have been developed and tested in various DSSC configurations to address the aforementioned challenges. Here, we comprehensively review the progress on the development and application of electrolytes for DSSCs. We particularly focus on the improvements that have been made in different types of electrolytes, which result in enhanced photovoltaic performance and long-term device stability of DSSCs. Several recently introduced electrolyte materials are reviewed, and the role of electrolytes in different DSSC device designs is critically assessed. To sum up, we provide an overview of recent trends in research on electrolytes for DSSCs and highlight the advantages and limitations of recently reported novel electrolyte compositions for producing low-cost and industrially scalable solar cell technology.
Highlights
Climate change mitigation will require a massive switch to clean energy technologies [1,2]
Recombination kinetics involving the electron lifetimes in different cobalt redox species were found to be low in [Co(dtb-bpy)3]2+/3+ slightly lower for [Co(dm-bpy)3]2+/3+ and the lowest in [Co(bpy)3]2+/3+. Their recombination rate constants decreased in the opposite sequence, whereby [Co(bpy)3]2+/3+ demonstrated the smallest constant [Co(dm-bpy)3]2+/3+ and [Co(dtb-bpy)3]2+/3+ the highest constant. These results indicate that the structure of the cobalt electrolytes and the porosity of the TiO2 films are of paramount importance in defining the performance of the Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) [178,179]
For instance, have received worldwide attention due to their high open circuit voltage (VOC) and very efficient performance under low light intensities. This indicates that highly efficient DSSCs can be fabricated while employing copper redox shuttles for consumer electronics applications, such as electronic appliances and sensors
Summary
Climate change mitigation will require a massive switch to clean energy technologies [1,2]. Cao et al presented a new DSSC configuration with copper-based electrolyte reaching an impressive energy conversion efficiency (η = 32%) under low light intensity (1000 lux) conditions very recently [18]. These impressive recent improvements in the solar-to-electrical conversion efficiencies have again become reasons for a resurgence in efforts to producing DSSC in large scale, such as large modules for terrestrial power generation and even small modules that focus on portable electronics [19,20]. Bifacial Semi-Transparent and Front-Illuminated DSSCs on Rigid and Flexible Substrates
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