Toward eco-friendly dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs): Natural dyes and aqueous electrolytes

Ji Hye Kim, Dong Hyuk Kim, Ju Hee So, Hyung Jun Koo

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

59 Scopus citations

Abstract

Due to their low cost, facile fabrication, and high-power conversion efficiency (PCE), dyesensitized solar cells (DSSCs) have attracted much attention. Ruthenium (Ru) complex dyes and organic solvent-based electrolytes are typically used in high-efficiency DSSCs. However, Ru dyes are expensive and require a complex synthesis process. Organic solvents are toxic, environmentally hazardous, and explosive, and can cause leakage problems due to their low surface tension. This review summarizes and discusses previous works to replace them with natural dyes and water-based electrolytes to fabricate low-cost, safe, biocompatible, and environmentally friendly DSSCs. Although the performance of “eco-friendly DSSCs” remains less than 1%, continuous efforts to improve the PCE can accelerate the development of more practical devices, such as designing novel redox couples and photosensitizers, interfacial engineering of photoanodes and electrolytes, and biomimetic approaches inspired by natural systems.

Original languageEnglish
Article number219
JournalEnergies
Volume15
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jan 2022

Keywords

  • Aqueous electrolyte
  • Dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs)
  • Eco-friendly DSSCs
  • Natural dye

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