Abstract
To cope with the depletion of fossil fuels and the contamination that its use produces, we must take advantage of natural and renewable resources, especially abundant solar radiation. Nowadays, three generations of solar cells have being developed, each having its own advantages and disadvantages. For instance, it is well-known that the currently commercialized solar cells have some major drawbacks; their assembly requires special conditions, and the materials needed are nonabundant and expensive.
Among the third generation of solar cells, we find dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC), which have gained popularity due to their simple assembly as well to their low cost. These photovoltaic devices, inspired by the natural phenomenon of photosynthesis, have been further improved thanks to the development of nanotechnology. This science plays a major role in DSSC, and the advances in synthesis and characterization have allowed to further improve the electrode and the counter electrode materials. The developing of DSSC characterization techniques has made known about the internal processes, which have helped to develop new sensitizers and electrolytes. In this chapter, we talk about the working principle of DSSC, the components and materials of the device, and characterization techniques and outlook for this technology.
References
Abd-Ellah M, Moghimi N, Zhang L, Thomas JP, McGillivray D, Srivastava S, Leung KT (2016) Plasmonic gold nanoparticles for ZnO-nanotube Photoanodes in dye-sensitized solar cell application. Nanoscale 8(3):1658–1664. https://doi.org/10.1039/C5NR08029K
Ahmed U, Alizadeh M, Rahim NA, Shahabuddin S, Shakeel Ahmed M, Pandey AK (2018) A comprehensive review on counter electrodes for dye sensitized solar cells: a special focus on Pt-TCO free counter electrodes. Solar Energ 174:1097–1125. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2018.10.010
Birel Ö, Nadeem S, Duman H (2017) Porphyrin-based dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs): a review. J Fluoresc 27:1075–1085. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10895-017-2041-2
Bora C, Sarkar C, Mohan KJ, Dolui S (2015) Polythiophene/graphene composite as a highly efficient platinum-free counter electrode in dye-sensitized solar cells. Electrochim Acta 157:225–231. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electacta.2014.12.164
Borbón S, Lugo S, Pourjafari D, Pineda-Aguilar N, Oskam G, López I (2020) Open-circuit voltage (VOC) enhancement in TiO2-based DSSCs: incorporation of ZnO nanoflowers and au nanoparticles. ACS Omega 5(19):10977–10986. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.0c00794
Boro B, Gogoi B, Rajbongshi BM, Ramchiary A (2018) Nano-structured TiO2/ZnO nanocomposite for dye-sensitized solar cells application: a review. Renew Sust Energ Rev 81(2):2264–2270. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2017.06.035
Calogero G, Bartolotta A, Di Marco G, Di Carlo A, Bonaccorso F (2015) Vegetable-based dye-sensitized solar cells. Chem Soc Rev 44:3244–3294. https://doi.org/10.1039/C4CS00309H
Carella A, Borbone F, Centore R (2018) Research progress on photosensitizers for DSSC. Front Chem 6:481. https://doi.org/10.3389/fchem.2018.00481
Chang LY, Li CT, Li YY, Lee CP, Yeh MH, Ho KC, Lin JJ (2015) Morphological influence of polypyrrole nanoparticles on the performance of dye-sensitized solar cells. Electrochim Acta 155:263–271. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electacta.2014.12.127
Chapin DM, Fuller CS, Pearson GL (1954) A new silicon P-N junction photocell for converting solar radiation into electrical power. J App Phys 25:676. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1721711
Chava RK, Kang M (2017) Improving the photovoltaic conversion efficiency of ZnO based dye sensitized solar cells by indium doping. J Alloys Compd 692:67–76. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jallcom.2016.09.029
Chen TY, Huang YJ, Li CT, Kung CW, Vittal R, Ho KC (2017) Metal-organic framework/sulfonated polythiophene on carbon cloth as a flexible counter electrode for dye-sensitized solar cells. Nano Energy 32:19–27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nanoen.2016.12.019
Chen YZ, Wu RJ, Lin LY, Chang WC (2019) Novel synthesis of popcorn-like TiO2 light scatterers using a facile solution method for efficient dye-sensitized solar cells. J Power Sources 413:384–390. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2018.12.065
Geim AK, Novoselov KS (2009) The rise of graphene. In: Nanoscience and technology, pp 11–19. https://doi.org/10.1142/9789814287005_0002
Guo J, Shi Y, Chu Y, Ma T (2013a) Highly efficient telluride electrocatalysts for use as Pt-free counter electrodes in dye-sensitized solar cells. Chem Commun 49:10157–10159. https://doi.org/10.1039/C3CC45698F
Guo JW, Zhang B, Hou Y, Yang S, Yang XH, Yang HG (2013b) A sulfur-assisted strategy to decorate MWCNTs with highly dispersed Pt nanoparticles for counter electrode in dye-sensitized solar cells. J Mater Chem A 1:1982–1986. https://doi.org/10.1039/C2TA01003H
Guo J, Liang S, Shi Y, Hao C, Wang X, Ma T (2015) Transition metal selenides as efficient counter-electrode materials for dye-sensitized solar cells. Phys Chem Chem Phys 17:28985–28992. https://doi.org/10.1039/C5CP04862A
Hong CK, Ko HY, Han EM, Park KH (2015) Electrochemical properties of electrodeposited PEDOT counter electrode for dye-sensitized solar cells. Int J Electrochem Sci 10:5521–5529
Hsieh TL, Chen HW, Kung CW, Wang CC, Vittal R, Ho KC (2012) A highly efficient dye-sensitized solar cell with a platinum nanoflowers counter electrode. J Mater Chem 22:5550–5559. https://doi.org/10.1039/C2JM14623A
Hug H, Bader M, Mair P, Glatzel T (2014) Biophotovoltaics: natural pigments in dye-sensitized solar cells. Appl Energy 115:216–225. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2013.10.055
Hwang HJ, Joo SJ, Patil SA, Kim HS (2017) Efficiency enhancement in dye-sensitized solar cells using the shape/size-dependent plasmonic nanocomposite photoanodes incorporating silver nanoplates. Nanoscale 9:7960–7969. https://doi.org/10.1039/C7NR01059A
Karam C, Habchi R, Tingry S, Miele P, Bechelany M (2018) Design of multilayers of urchin-like ZnO nanowires coated with TiO2 nanostructures for dye-sensitized solar cells. ACS Appl Nano Mater 1(7):3705–3714. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsanm.8b00849
Karim NA, Mehmood U, Zahid HF, Asif T (2019) Nanostructured photoanode and counter electrode materials for efficient dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Sol Energy 185:165–188. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2019.04.057
Khan MI, Saleem M, Rehman SUR, Ali SS, Qadri MU, Ahmed N, Javed MS, Iqbal J (2018) Stacked layer effect of ZnO/TiO2 on the efficiency of dye sensitized solar cells. J Nanoelectron Optoelectron 14(2):291–296. https://doi.org/10.1166/jno.2019.2493
Kumara NTRN, Lim A, Lim CM, Petra MI, Ekanayake P (2017) Recent progress and utilization of natural pigments in dye sensitized solar cells: a review. Renew Sust Energ Rev 78:301–317. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2017.04.075
Lanjewar M, Gohel JV (2017) Enhanced performance of ag-doped ZnO and pure ZnO thin films DSSCs prepared by sol-gel spin coating. Inorg Nano-Met Chem 47(7):1090–1096. https://doi.org/10.1080/24701556.2016.1241275
Levy RB, Boudart M (1973) Platinum-like behavior of tungsten carbide in surface catalysis. Science 181(4099):547–549. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.181.4099.547
Li GR, Gao XP (2019) Low-cost counter-electrode materials for dye-sensitized and perovskite solar cells. Adv Mat 1806478. https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201806478
Li YY, Li CT, Yeh MH, Huang KC, Chen PW, Vittal R, Ho KC (2015) Graphite with different structures as catalysts for counter electrodes in dye-sensitized solar cells. Electrochim Acta 179:211–219. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electacta.2015.06.007
Liu J, Wei A, Zhao Y, Lin K, Luo F (2014) Dye-sensitized solar cells based on ZnO nanoflowers and TiO2 nanoparticles composite photoanodes. J Mater Sci Mater Electron 25:1122–1126. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-013-1698-9
Liu Q, Wei Y, Shahid MZ, Yao M, Xu B, Liu G, Jiang K, Li C (2018) Spectrum-enhanced au@ZnO plasmonic nanoparticles for boosting dye-sensitized solar cell performance. J Power Sources 380:142–148. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2018.01.089
Ma J, Yang H, Ren W, Yang Y (2019) Functionalization of aligned carbon nanotubes used as counter electrode for dye-sensitized solar cells. Mater Res Express 6(7):075611. https://doi.org/10.1088/2053-1591/aaf152
Mahmoud MS, Akhtar MS, Mohamed IMA, Hamdan R, Dakka YA, Barakat NAM (2018) Demonstrated photons to electron activity of S-doped TiO2 nanofibers as photoanode in the DSSC. Mat Lett 225:77–81. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matlet.2018.04.108
Mandal P, Sharma S (2016) Progress in plasmonic solar cell efficiency improvement: a status review. Renew Sust Energ Rev 65:537–552. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2016.07.031
Meyer E, Taziwa R, Mutukwa D, Zingwe N (2018) A review on the advancement of ternary alloy counter electrodes for use in dye-sensitised solar cells. Metals 8:1080. https://doi.org/10.3390/met8121080
Miettunen K, Halme J, Vahermaa P, Saukkonen T, Toivola M, Lund P (2009) Dye solar cells on ITO-PET substrate with TiO2 recombination blocking layers. J Electrochem Soc 156(8):B876–B883. https://doi.org/10.1149/1.3138129
Motlak Mo HAM, Hammed MG, Barakat NAM (2019) Cd-doped TiO2 nanofibers as effective working electrode for the dye sensitized solar cells. Mater Lett 246:206–209. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matlet.2019.03.067
Mustafa MN, Shafie S, Wahid MH, Sulaiman Y (2019) Light scattering effect of polyvinyl-alcohol/titanium dioxide nanofibers in the dye-sensitized solar cell. Sci Rep 9:14952. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-50292-z
O’Regan B, Gratzel M (1991) A low-cost, high-efficiency solar-cell based on dye-sensitized colloidal TiO2 films. Nature 353:737–740. https://doi.org/10.1038/353737a0
Pang Z, Zhao Y, Duan Y, Duan J, Tang Q, Yu L (2019) Well-aligned NiPt alloy counter electrodes for high-efficiency dye-sensitized solar cell applications. J Energy Chem 30:49–56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jechem.2018.03.016
Prabavathy N, Shalini S, Balasundaraprabhu R, Velauthapillai D, Prasanna S, Muthukumarasamy N (2017) Enhancement in the photostability of natural dyes for dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) applications: a review. Int J Energy Res 41(10):1372–1396. https://doi.org/10.1002/er.3703
Sakthivel T, Kumar KA, Ramanathan R, Senthilselvan J, Jagannathan K (2017) Silver doped TiO2 nano crystallites for dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) applications. Mat Res Express 4(12):126310. https://doi.org/10.1088/2053-1591/aa9e36
Saranya K, Rameez M, Subramania A (2015) Developments in conducting polymer based counter electrodes for dye-sensitized solar cells - an overview. Eur Polym J 66:207–227. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eurpolymj.2015.01.049
Saranya A, Devasena T, Sivaram H, Jayavel R (2018) Role of hexamine in ZnO morphologies at different growth temperature with potential application in dye sensitized solar cell. Mat Sci Semicond Process 92:108–115. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mssp.2018.03.028
Saurdi I, Shafura AK, Azhar NEA, Ishak A, Malek MF, Salman Alrokayan AH, Khan HA, Mamat MH, Rusop M (2016) Effect of Nb-doped TiO2 on Nanocomposited aligned ZnO nanorod/TiO2:Nb for dye-sensitized solar cells. AIP Conf Proc 1733(1):020064. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4948882
Sengupta D, Das P, Mondal B, Mukherjee K (2016) Effects of doping, morphology and film-thickness of photo-anode materials for dye sensitized solar cell application - a review. Renew Sust Energ Rev 60:356–376. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2016.01.104
Shakeel Ahmad M, Pandey AK, Rahim NA (2017) Advancements in the development of TiO2 photoanodes and its fabrication methods for dye sensitized solar cell (DSSC) applications. A review. Renew Sust Energ Rev 77:89–108. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2017.03.129
Sharma S, Siwach B, Ghoshal SK, Mohan D (2017) Dye sensitized solar cells: from genesis to recent drifts. Renew Sust Energ Rev 70:529–537. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2016.11.136
Song C, Wang S, Dong W, Fang X, Shao J, Zhu J, Pan X (2016) Hydrothermal synthesis of Iron pyrite (FeS2) as efficient counter electrodes for dye-sensitized solar cells. Sol Energy 133:429–436. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2016.04.002
Song DH, Kim HS, Suh JS, Jun BH, Rho WY (2017) Multi-shaped ag nanoparticles in the plasmonic layer of dye-sensitized solar cells for increased power conversion efficiency. Nano 7(6):136. https://doi.org/10.3390/nano7060136
Suzuki K, Makoto Y, Mikio K, Shozo Y (2003) Application of carbon nanotubes to counter electrodes of dye-sensitized solar cells. Chem Lett 32(1):28–29. https://doi.org/10.1246/cl.2003.28
Tang Q, Zhang H, Meng Y, He B, Yu L (2015a) Dissolution engineering of platinum alloy counter electrodes in dye-sensitized solar cells. Angew Chem Int Ed 54:11448–11452. https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201505339
Tang Q, Duan J, Duan Y, He B, Yu L (2015b) Recent advances in alloy counter electrodes for dye-sensitized solar cells. A critical review. Electrochim Acta 178:886–899. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electacta.2015.08.072
Ünlü B, Özacar M (2020) Effect of cu and Mn amounts doped to TiO2 on the performance of DSSCs. Sol Energy 196:448–456. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2019.12.043
Vidu R, Rahman M, Mahmoudi M, Enachescu M, Poteca TD, Opris I (2014) Nanostructures: a platform for brain repair and aumentation. Front Syst Neurosci 8:91. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnsys.2014.00091
Villanueva-Cab J, Olalde-Velasco P, Romero-Contreras A, Zhuo Z, Rodil SE, Yang W, Pal U (2018) Photocharging and band gap narrowing effects on the performance of plasmonic photoelectrodes in dye-sensitized solar cells. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 10(37):31374–21383. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.8b10063
Wang G, Zhuo S, Xing W (2012) Graphene/polyaniline nanocomposite as counter electrode of dye-sensitized solar cells. Mater Lett 69:27–29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matlet.2011.11.086
Wang W, Liu Y, Sun J, Gao L (2016) Nitrogen and yttrium co-doped mesoporous titania photoanodes applied in DSSCs. J Alloys Compd 659:15–22. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jallcom.2015.10.254
Wang W, Yuan H, Xie J, Xu D, Chen X, He Y, Zhang T, Chen Z, Zhang Y, Shen H (2018) Enhanced efficiency of large-area dye-sensitized solar cells by light-scattering effect using multilayer TiO2 Photoanodes. Mat Res Bull 100:434–439. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.materresbull.2017.12.032
Wiley BJ, Im SH, Li ZY, McLellan J, Siekkinen A, Xia Y (2006) Maneuvering the surface plasmon resonance of silver nanostructures through shape-controlled synthesis. J Phys Chem B 110(32):15666–15675. https://doi.org/10.1021/jp0608628
Wu M, Lin X, Wang Y, Wang L, Guo W, Qi P, Peng X, Hagfeldt A, Gratzel M, Ma T (2012) Economical Pt-free catalysts for counter electrodes of dye-sensitized solar cells. J Am Chem Soc 134(7):3419–3428. https://doi.org/10.1021/ja209657v
Wu J, Lan Z, Lin J, Huang M, Huang Y, Fan L, Luo G (2015) Electrolytes in dye-sensitized solar cells. Chem Rev 115(5):2136–2173. https://doi.org/10.1021/cr400675m
Wu J, Lan Z, Lin J, Huang M, Huang Y, Fan L, Luo G, Lin Y, Xie Y, Wei Y (2017) Counter electrodes in dye-sensitized solar cells. Chem Soc Rev 46:5975–6023. https://doi.org/10.1039/C6CS00752J
Xiao Y, Han G (2016) High performance platinum nanofibers with interconnecting structure using in dye-sensitized solar cells. Org Electron 37:239–244. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orgel.2016.06.041
Xu L, Xu J, Hu H, Cui C, Ding Z, Yan Y, Lin P, Wang P (2019) Hierarchical submicro flowers assembled from ultrathin anatase TiO2 nanosheets as light scattering centers in TiO2 photoanodes for dye-sensitized solar cells. J Alloys Compd 776:1002–1008. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jallcom.2018.10.386
Yang Q, Yang P, Duan J, Wang X, Wang L, Wang Z, Tang Q (2016a) Ternary platinum alloy counter electrodes for high-efficiency dye-sensitized solar cells. Electrochim Acta 190:85–91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electacta.2016.01.044
Yang Y, Zhao J, Cui C, Zhang Y, Hu H, Xu L, Pan J, Li C, Tang W (2016b) Hydrothermal growth of ZnO nanowires scaffolds within mesoporous TiO2 photoanodes for dye-sensitized solar cells with enhanced efficiency. Electrochim Acta 196:348–356. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electacta.2016.03.022
Ye XY, Gu YH, Chen H, Cao YF, Liu YY, Lei BX, Sun W, Sun ZF (2019) Non-aqueous preparation of anatase TiO2 hollow microspheres for efficient dye-sensitized solar cells. Adv Powder Technol 30(10):2408–2415. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apt.2019.07.023
Zhang Y, Zhou N, Zhang K, Yan F (2017) Plasmonic copper nanowire@TiO2 nanostructures for improving the performance of dye-sensitized solar cells. J Power Sources 342:292–300. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2016.12.068
Zhang W, Chang S, Yao S, Wang H (2019) Preparation and characterization of submicron star-like ZnO as light scattering centers for combination with ZnO nanoparticles for dye-sensitized solar cells. Journal of Elec Materi 48:4895–4901. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-019-07278-4
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Borbón, S., Lugo, S., López, I. (2020). Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells. In: Kharissova, O.V., Martínez, L.M.T., Kharisov, B.I. (eds) Handbook of Nanomaterials and Nanocomposites for Energy and Environmental Applications. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11155-7_38-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11155-7_38-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-11155-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-11155-7
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Chemistry and Mat. ScienceReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Chemistry, Materials and Physics