Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Yu-Fen Wang, Hui Feng, Yi-Rui Deng, Fei-Fei Xin, De-Jun Li, Zhuo-Fan Hu, Lei Zhang, Rui-Ping Liu
Summary: Zn2SnO4 plates, particles and spheres were successfully prepared via a facile synthesis method and applied as photoanodes in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) to explore the relationships between the nanostructure and photovoltaic performances. DSSCs based on Zn2SnO4 spheres exhibited the highest power conversion efficiency. The spheres showed the highest light-scattering abilities and fastest electron transport rate compared to plates and particles, leading to enhanced photovoltaic performance.
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Kalpana Deevi, Venkata Subba Reddy Imma Reddy
Summary: Zinc Stannate (Zn2SnO4) nanoparticles were successfully synthesized via solvothermal method, displaying a face centered cubic spinel structure with an average size of 20 nm. When utilized in semi-transparent dye sensitized solar cells, the photoconversion efficiency of these Zn2SnO4-based photoanodes reached 0.86%.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Daniel Ursu, Radu Banica, Melinda Vajda, Corneliu Birtok Baneasa, Marinela Miclau
Summary: In this study, one-dimensional silver nanowires were integrated into zinc tin oxide spheres through one-step hydrothermal synthesis to enhance the photovoltaic performance of dye-sensitized solar cells. Experimental results demonstrated that the addition of silver nanowires can enhance the photoelectrochemical activity and charge injection.
JOURNAL OF ALLOYS AND COMPOUNDS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Chaoqiang Liao, Kaiwen Zeng, Hanlun Wu, Qingliang Zeng, Hao Tang, Lingyun Wang, Herbert Meier, Yongshu Xie, Derong Cao
Summary: The use of pillar[5]arene dyes can enhance the open-circuit voltage of DSSCs, while also inhibiting dye aggregation and charge recombination, leading to improved performance. Additionally, host-guest interactions with the electrolyte can further adjust the voltage and photocurrent of the DSSCs.
CELL REPORTS PHYSICAL SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Dongting Wang, Yifan Hu, Yuchen Li, Xiangchen Jia, Yuzhen Fang, Zhiliang Zhang, Xianxi Zhang
Summary: The study introduces a novel and uncomplicated wet-chemical method at room temperature for the self seeding preparation of three-dimensional hierarchically branched rutile TiO2 nanostructures. The technique utilizes titanate nanotubes as the precursor and employs a dissolution/precipitation/recrystallization process to obtain spindle-like rutile TiO2 and intermediate anatase phase, which serve as the substrates and nucleation precursor to grow the branches, resulting in the formation of 3D hierarchically branched rutile TiO2. When used as the photoanode in dye-sensitized solar cells, the hierarchical TiO2 exhibits a significantly improved power conversion efficiency of 8.32%, surpassing a typical TiO2 (P25) nanoparticle-based reference cell (eta = 5.97%) with the same film thickness. The exceptional performance is attributed to the effective combination of robust light scattering, substantial dye loading, and fast electron transport in the hierarchically branched rutile TiO2 nanostructures.
Review
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Ana Belen Munoz-Garcia, Iacopo Benesperi, Gerrit Boschloo, Javier J. Concepcion, Jared H. Delcamp, Elizabeth A. Gibson, Gerald J. Meyer, Michele Pavone, Henrik Pettersson, Anders Hagfeldt, Marina Freitag
Summary: Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) and dye-sensitized photoelectrochemical cells (DSPECs) have seen a revival in recent years as they offer unique properties such as low cost, non-toxic materials, colorfulness, transparency, and efficiency in low light conditions. This review covers advancements in DSC technology over the past decade, including theoretical studies, characterization techniques, materials, applications, and commercialization efforts by various companies.
CHEMICAL SOCIETY REVIEWS
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Ramarajan Ramanathan, Michael Zinigrad, Dhivyaprasath Kasinathan, Ranjith Kumar Poobalan
Summary: This study focuses on synthesizing composite materials based on Zn2SnO4 as photoanodes for dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), aiming to improve the power conversion efficiency. The synthesized composite materials exhibit better optical and structural properties, leading to higher performance compared to the pristine material.
ACS APPLIED ENERGY MATERIALS
(2022)
Article
Materials Science, Ceramics
Fatemeh Saadat, Amin Alizadeh, Mostafa Roudgar-Amoli, Zahra Shariatinia
Summary: In this study, Zn2SnO4/ZIF-8 nanocomposites were synthesized and applied as photoanode materials for high-performance DSSCs. The addition of ZIF-8 improved the photovoltaic performance of the DSSCs due to enhanced electron transport rate, electron collecting efficiency, and charge recombination resistance.
CERAMICS INTERNATIONAL
(2022)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Wenruo Fang, Pan Hu, Zhenqiu Wu, Youfeng Xiao, Yunxia Sui, Dalong Pan, Guangxu Su, Mingwei Zhu, Peng Zhan, Fanxin Liu, Wei Wu
Summary: The study demonstrates the use of collapsible gold nanofingers to construct plasmonic dye-sensitized solar cells, which can enhance light absorption and power conversion efficiency by adjusting material thickness and structure. The results show that compared to traditional film-type solar cells, this plasmonic nanostructure can significantly improve the photovoltaic conversion efficiency.
Article
Chemistry, Applied
Haoran Zhou, Jung-Min Ji, Hwan Kyu Kim
Summary: Two porphyrin-based sensitizers, SGT-028 and SGT-029, were designed and synthesized via acceptor engineering for application in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Despite similar absorption range and energy band gap to the reference dye SGT-021, SGT-029 achieved a higher power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 10.5% compared to SGT-028 with 9.1%, but was inferior to the benchmark porphyrin sensitizer SGT-021 (12.7%).
Review
Chemistry, Physical
Mikko Kokkonen, Parisa Talebi, Jin Zhou, Somayyeh Asgari, Sohail Ahmed Soomro, Farid Elsehrawy, Janne Halme, Shahzada Ahmad, Anders Hagfeldt, Syed Ghufran Hashmi
Summary: This paper reviews the recent progress in DSSC research to achieve high photovoltaic efficiency and performance stability under typical indoor conditions by developing new device structures, alternative redox shuttles, solid-state hole conductors, TiO2 photoelectrodes, catalyst materials, and sealing techniques. It proposes a scalable cell fabrication process that integrates these developments to a new monolithic cell design based on several features. Finally, the need to design new stability testing protocols to assess the probable deployment of DSSCs in portable electronics and internet-of-things devices is discussed.
JOURNAL OF MATERIALS CHEMISTRY A
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Yunfei Jiao, Shuaishuai Liu, Zhongjin Shen, Le Mao, Yongjie Ding, Dan Ren, Felix Thomas Eickemeyer, Lukas Pfeifer, Dapeng Cao, Wenjuan Xu, Juan Song, Baoxiu Mi, Zhiqiang Gao, Shaik M. Zakeeruddin, Wei Huang, Michael Gratzel
Summary: Heteroaromatic units are commonly used as pi-spacers for sensitizers in dye-sensitized solar cells. The type of pi-spacer strongly influences the solar to electric power conversion efficiency of organic dyes, with electron-rich pi-spacers leading to higher efficiency. Molecular engineering plays a crucial role in developing high efficiency organic dyes for DSSCs.
JOURNAL OF MATERIALS CHEMISTRY A
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Hina Pervaiz, Zuhair S. Khan, Nadia Shahzad, Ghulam Ali, Naseem Iqbal, Sofia Javed
Summary: This study introduces a method for synthesizing and depositing organic/inorganic composite ink for the preparation of counter electrodes in flexible dye-sensitized solar cells. The results demonstrate that the composite ink-based counter electrodes exhibit higher catalytic activity, power conversion efficiencies, and redox diffusion rate compared to traditional counter electrodes.
PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY CHEMICAL PHYSICS
(2022)
Review
Energy & Fuels
Subbiah Vijaya, Killian Lobato, Belqasem Aljafari, Sambandam Anandan
Summary: Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) have attracted significant attention due to their ease of fabrication, low cost, and environmentally friendly nature. Platinum (Pt) is conventionally used as the counter electrode, thanks to its excellent electrocatalytic activity and high electrical conductivity. However, the corrosive and scarce nature of Pt limits its application. As a result, research efforts are focused on exploring alternative counter electrode materials, with MoS2 and its composites being a promising option. Interestingly, MoS2 can also be utilized as the photoanode in DSSCs. Morphology plays a crucial role in device performance, and the electrochemical investigation and stability of the counter electrodes are important considerations.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENERGY RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Wen-Feng Lai, Pei-Ling Chao, Xin-Yu Lin, Yin-Pei Chen, Jih-Hsin Liu, Tz-Feng Lin, Wei-Chou Hsu, Chia-Yi Huang
Summary: In this study, a one-dimensional protrusive TiO2 strip array was fabricated using chemical and physical methods. A porous semiconductor layer was coated on the strip array. The results showed that the DSSC with the TiO2 strip array had a higher energy conversion efficiency, which can be attributed to the large surface area of the protrusive structure and its specific electron transport paths.
