Recent Development and Future Prospects of Rigid and Flexible Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell: A Review

Abstract

AbstractThe demand for solar-powered portable, wearable, lightweight and flexible electronic devices is increasing in the market. Hence, the development of flexible, lightweight and reliable solar cells is required to meet the market demand. Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) may be an alternative to fulfill this demand. The reported maximum power conversion efficiency (PCE) of DSSCs is ~14.1% only. Hence, there is a huge scope for increasing the PCE of DSSCs by using different nanostructure designs and materials in various layers of DSSCs. So, an extensive review of the available literature is done on recently developed fabrication and material synthesis techniques of various layers used in DSSCs for enhancing efficiency and durability. Again, the importance of using metal nanoparticles along with metal-oxide nanostructures as photoanode for enhancing light absorption and charge transport is also discussed in detail. Furthermore, the challenges currently faced by researchers in developing Flexible DSSCs (FDSSCs) are also addressed. Therefore, the main objective of this book chapter is to discuss the different materials and synthesis techniques for developing a novel photoanode layer. Another focus is to find out different synthesis techniques developed for the counter electrode (CE), electrolytes and dye layers for designing highly efficient rigid and FDSSCs.KeywordsDSSCsFlexibleMetal nanoparticleMetal-oxidePhotoanode