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Molecules
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Recent Advances in Dye-Sensitized and Perovskite Solar Cells
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Recent Advances in Dye-Sensitized and Perovskite Solar Cells

A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Materials Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2024 | Viewed by 11129

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Aleksandra Drygała

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Engineering Materials and Biomaterials, Silesian University of Technology, Gliwice, Poland
Interests: photovoltaics; materials processing and characterization; nanotechnology and nanomaterials; advanced and functional materials; surface engineering; thin films; energy materials
Dr. Janusz Wyrwał

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Measurements and Control Systems, Silesian University of Technology, Gliwice, Poland
Interests: photovoltaics; numerical analysis; modelling and analysis of vibroacoustic systems; controllability and observability of dynamic systems; real-time operating systems; programming of PLC controllers

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Solar energy is a practically inexhaustible natural source of power for Earth. Efficient usage of solar energy has been considered as the most promising way to meet a global demand for energy. Therefore, the development of highly efficient solar cells, which is a response to the most pressing environmental and economic concerns, is of extreme importance. Because of physicochemical properties, light weight, flexibility, low manufacturing costs, and printability, dye-sensitized and perovskite solar cells are considered as one of the most promising photovoltaic technologies.

This Special Issue of Molecules will cover the latest achievements in dye-sensitized and perovskite solar cells, including novel materials, device structures, technology, and the characterization method. This Special Issue aims to present a collection of experimental and review papers reporting the most recent advances in the fields.

Dr. Aleksandra Drygała
Dr. Janusz Wyrwał
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Molecules is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Photovoltaics
  • Dye-sensitized solar cells
  • Perovskite solar cells
  • Photovoltaic properties
  • Surface and interfaces
  • Charge transporting materials
  • Nanotechnology and nanomaterials
  • Advanced and functional materials
  • Conducting and semiconducting oxides
  • Metal contacts
  • Photoanode and counter electrode
  • Thin films
  • Printing technology
  • Flexible and transparent electrodes
  • Materials processing and characterization
  • Long-term stability and reproducibility

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

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14 pages, 20604 KiB  
Article
Improvement in Dibenzofuran-Based Hole Transport Materials for Flexible Perovskite Solar Cells
by Yuanqiong Lin, Xiao Zhang, Jinchuan Lu, Xiaohan Lin, Yinghua Lu, Xin Li and Song Tu
Molecules 2024, 29(6), 1208; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules29061208 - 08 Mar 2024
Viewed by 608
Abstract
The π-conjugated system and the steric configuration of hole transport materials (HTMs) could greatly affect their various properties and the corresponding perovskite solar cells’ efficiencies. Here, a molecular engineering strategy of incorporating different amounts of p-methoxyaniline-substituted dibenzofurans as π bridge into HTMs was [...] Read more.
The π-conjugated system and the steric configuration of hole transport materials (HTMs) could greatly affect their various properties and the corresponding perovskite solar cells’ efficiencies. Here, a molecular engineering strategy of incorporating different amounts of p-methoxyaniline-substituted dibenzofurans as π bridge into HTMs was proposed to develop oligomer HTMs, named mDBF, bDBF, and tDBF. Upon extending the π-conjugation of HTMs, their HOMO energy levels were slightly deepened, significantly increasing the thermal stability and hole mobility. The incorporation of p-methoxyaniline bridges built one or two additional triphenylamine propeller structures, resulting in a denser film. Here, the tDBF-based n-i-p flexible perovskite solar cells createdchampion efficiency, giving a power conversion efficiency of 19.46%. And the simple synthesis and purification process of tDBF contributed to its low manufacturing cost in the laboratory. This work provided a reference for the development of low-cost and efficient HTMs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Dye-Sensitized and Perovskite Solar Cells)
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12 pages, 2618 KiB  
Article
Highly Efficient DSSCs Sensitized Using NIR Responsive Bacteriopheophytine-a and Its Derivatives Extracted from Rhodobacter Sphaeroides Photobacteria
by Abdulrahman I. Almansour, Raju Suresh Kumar, Khloud Ibrahim Al-Shemaimari and Natarajan Arumugam
Molecules 2024, 29(5), 931; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules29050931 - 21 Feb 2024
Viewed by 571
Abstract
Employing naturally extracted dyes and their derivatives as photosensitizers towards the construction of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) has been recently emerging for establishing sustainable energy conversion devices. In this present work, Rhodobacter Sphaeroides Photobacteria (Rh. Sphaeroides) was used as a natural source from [...] Read more.
Employing naturally extracted dyes and their derivatives as photosensitizers towards the construction of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) has been recently emerging for establishing sustainable energy conversion devices. In this present work, Rhodobacter Sphaeroides Photobacteria (Rh. Sphaeroides) was used as a natural source from which Bacteriopheophytine-a (Bhcl) dye was extracted. Further, two cationic derivatives of Bhcl, viz., Guanidino-bacteriopheophorbide-a (Gua-Bhcl) and (2-aminoethyl)triphenylphosphono-bacteriopheophorbide-a (2AETPPh-Bhcl) were synthesized. The thus obtained Bhcl, Gua-Bhcl and 2AETPPh-Bhcl were characterized using liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC–MS) and their photophysical properties were investigated using excitation and emission studies. All three near-infrared (NIR) responsive dyes were employed as natural sensitizers towards the construction of DSSC devices, using platinum as a photocathode, dye-sensitized P25-TiO2 as a photoanode and I−/I3− as an electrolyte. DSSCs fabricated using all three dyes have shown reasonably good photovoltaic performance, among which 2AETPPh-Bhcl dye has shown a relatively higher power conversion efficiency (η) of 0.38% with a short circuit photocurrent density (JSC) of 1.03 mA cm−2. This could be attributed to the dye’s natural optimal light absorption in the visible and NIR region and uniform dispersion through the electrostatic interaction of the cationic derivatives on the TiO2 photoanode. Furthermore, the atomic force microscopy studies and electrochemical investigations using cyclic voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and Bode’s plot also supported the enhancement in performance attained with 2AETPPh-Bhcl dye. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Dye-Sensitized and Perovskite Solar Cells)
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15 pages, 6391 KiB  
Article
Hybrid Mesoporous TiO2/ZnO Electron Transport Layer for Efficient Perovskite Solar Cell
by Aleksandra Drygała, Zbigniew Starowicz, Katarzyna Gawlińska-Nęcek, Małgorzata Karolus, Marek Lipiński, Paweł Jarka, Wiktor Matysiak, Eva Tillová, Peter Palček and Tomasz Tański
Molecules 2023, 28(15), 5656; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28155656 - 26 Jul 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1132
Abstract
In recent years, perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have gained major attention as potentially useful photovoltaic technology due to their ever-increasing power-conversion efficiency (PCE). The efficiency of PSCs depends strongly on the type of materials selected as the electron transport layer (ETL). [...] Read more.
In recent years, perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have gained major attention as potentially useful photovoltaic technology due to their ever-increasing power-conversion efficiency (PCE). The efficiency of PSCs depends strongly on the type of materials selected as the electron transport layer (ETL). TiO2 is the most widely used electron transport material for the n-i-p structure of PSCs. Nevertheless, ZnO is a promising candidate owing to its high transparency, suitable energy band structure, and high electron mobility. In this investigation, hybrid mesoporous TiO2/ZnO ETL was fabricated for a perovskite solar cell composed of FTO-coated glass/compact TiO2/mesoporous ETL/FAPbI3/2D perovskite/Spiro-OMeTAD/Au. The influence of ZnO nanostructures with different percentage weight contents on the photovoltaic performance was investigated. It was found that the addition of ZnO had no significant effect on the surface topography, structure, and optical properties of the hybrid mesoporous electron-transport layer but strongly affected the electrical properties of PSCs. The best efficiency rate of 18.24% has been obtained for PSCs with 2 wt.% ZnO. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Dye-Sensitized and Perovskite Solar Cells)
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14 pages, 3538 KiB  
Article
Bifacial Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells Utilizing Visible and NIR Dyes: Implications of Dye Adsorption Behaviour
by Suraya Shaban, Ajendra K. Vats and Shyam S. Pandey
Molecules 2023, 28(6), 2784; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28062784 - 20 Mar 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1394
Abstract
Bifacial dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) were fabricated utilizing dye cocktails of two dyes, Z-907 and SQ-140, which have complementary light absorption and photon harvesting in the visible and near-infrared wavelength regions, for panchromatic photon harvesting. The investigation of the rate of dye adsorption [...] Read more.
Bifacial dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) were fabricated utilizing dye cocktails of two dyes, Z-907 and SQ-140, which have complementary light absorption and photon harvesting in the visible and near-infrared wavelength regions, for panchromatic photon harvesting. The investigation of the rate of dye adsorption and the binding strengths of the dyes on mesoporous TiO2 corroborated the finding that the Z-907 dye showed a rate of dye adsorption that was about >15 times slower and a binding that was about 3 times stronger on mesoporous TiO2 as compared to SQ-140. Utilizing the dye cocktails Z-907 and SQ-140 from ethanol, the formation of the dye bilayer, which was significantly influenced by the ratio of dyes and adsorption time, was demonstrated. It was demonstrated that the dyes of Z-907 and SQ-140 prepared in 1:9 or 9:1 molar ratios favoured the dye bilayer formation by subtly controlling the adsorption time. In contrast, the 1:1 ratio counterpart was prone to form mixed dye adsorption; the best performance of the BF-DSSCs was shown when a dye cocktail of Z-907 and SQ-140 in a molar 9:1 ratio was used to prepare a photoanode for 1 h of dye adsorption. The BF-DSSCs thus exhibited PCEs of 4.23% and 3.48% upon the front and rear side light illuminations, a cumulated PCE of 7.71%, and a very good BBF of 83%. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Dye-Sensitized and Perovskite Solar Cells)
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12 pages, 4527 KiB  
Article
Enhanced Performance of Camphorsulfonic Acid-Doped Perovskite Solar Cells
by Adam Wincukiewicz, Ewelina Wierzyńska, Aliaksei Bohdan, Mateusz Tokarczyk, Krzysztof P. Korona, Magdalena Skompska and Maria Kamińska
Molecules 2022, 27(22), 7850; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27227850 - 14 Nov 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1631
Abstract
High-quality perovskite film with large grains and therefore reduced grain boundaries plays a significant role in improving the power conversion efficiency (PCE) and ensuring good long-term stability of the perovskite solar cells. In this work, we found that adding camphorsulfonic acid (CSA), a [...] Read more.
High-quality perovskite film with large grains and therefore reduced grain boundaries plays a significant role in improving the power conversion efficiency (PCE) and ensuring good long-term stability of the perovskite solar cells. In this work, we found that adding camphorsulfonic acid (CSA), a Lewis base, to the perovskite solution results in the crystallization of larger perovskite grains. By varying the concentration of CSA, we found that the optimal concentration of the additive is 1 mg/mL, which leads to an 20% increase in PCE of the cells compared to the reference CSA-free cell. Interestingly, we observed that the PCE of cells with an excess of CSA was initially poor, but may increase significantly over time, possibly due to CSA migration to the hole-transporting layer, leading to an improvement in its conductivity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Dye-Sensitized and Perovskite Solar Cells)
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9 pages, 2379 KiB  
Article
Inclined Substrate Deposition of Nanostructured TiO2 Thin Films for DSSC Application
by Lijian Meng and Tao Yang
Molecules 2021, 26(11), 3122; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26113122 - 24 May 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1805
Abstract
Nanostructured TiO2 films were deposited onto Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) and glass substrates by dc reactive magnetron sputtering at different substrate inclination angles. The structural and optical properties of the deposited films were studied by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and UV–Vis [...] Read more.
Nanostructured TiO2 films were deposited onto Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) and glass substrates by dc reactive magnetron sputtering at different substrate inclination angles. The structural and optical properties of the deposited films were studied by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and UV–Vis spectrophotometer, respectively. Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) were assembled using these TiO2 films as photoelectrodes and the effect of the substrate inclination angle in the preparing process of TiO2 films on the DSSC conversion efficiency was studied. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Dye-Sensitized and Perovskite Solar Cells)
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Review

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20 pages, 11879 KiB  
Review
Recent Advances on Pt-Free Electro-Catalysts for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells
by Yi-June Huang, Prasanta Kumar Sahoo, Dung-Sheng Tsai and Chuan-Pei Lee
Molecules 2021, 26(17), 5186; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26175186 - 26 Aug 2021
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2670
Abstract
Since Prof. Grätzel and co-workers achieved breakthrough progress on dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) in 1991, DSSCs have been extensively investigated and wildly developed as a potential renewable power source in the last two decades due to their low cost, low energy-intensive processing, and [...] Read more.
Since Prof. Grätzel and co-workers achieved breakthrough progress on dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) in 1991, DSSCs have been extensively investigated and wildly developed as a potential renewable power source in the last two decades due to their low cost, low energy-intensive processing, and high roll-to-roll compatibility. During this period, the highest efficiency recorded for DSSC under ideal solar light (AM 1.5G, 100 mW cm−2) has increased from ~7% to ~14.3%. For the practical use of solar cells, the performance of photovoltaic devices in several conditions with weak light irradiation (e.g., indoor) or various light incident angles are also an important item. Accordingly, DSSCs exhibit high competitiveness in solar cell markets because their performances are less affected by the light intensity and are less sensitive to the light incident angle. However, the most used catalyst in the counter electrode (CE) of a typical DSSC is platinum (Pt), which is an expensive noble metal and is rare on earth. To further reduce the cost of the fabrication of DSSCs on the industrial scale, it is better to develop Pt-free electro-catalysts for the CEs of DSSCs, such as transition metallic compounds, conducting polymers, carbonaceous materials, and their composites. In this article, we will provide a short review on the Pt-free electro-catalyst CEs of DSSCs with superior cell compared to Pt CEs; additionally, those selected reports were published within the past 5 years. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Dye-Sensitized and Perovskite Solar Cells)
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