Dye-sensitized solar cells strike back

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) are celebrating their 30th birthday and they are attracting a wealth of research efforts aimed at unleashing their full potential. In recent years, DSCs and dye-sensitized photoelectrochemical cells (DSPECs) have experienced a renaissance as the best technology for several niche applications that take advantage of DSCs' unique combination of properties: at low cost, they are composed of non-toxic materials, are colorful, transparent, and very efficient in low light conditions. This review summarizes the advancements in the field over the last decade, encompassing all aspects of the DSC technology: theoretical studies, characterization techniques, materials, applications as solar cells and as drivers for the synthesis of solar fuels, and commercialization efforts from various companies.

Core-shell nanomaterials: Applications in energy storage and conversion

Materials with core-shell structures have attracted increasing attention in recent years due to their unique properties and wide applications in energy storage and conversion systems. Through reasonable adjustments of their shells and cores, various types of core-shell structured materials can be fabricated with favorable properties that play significant roles in energy storage and conversion processes. The core-shell material can provide an effective solution to the current energy crisis. Various synthetic strategies used to fabricate core-shell materials, including the atomic layer deposition, chemical vapor deposition and solvothermal method, are briefly mentioned here. A state-of-the -art review of their applications in energy storage and conversion is summarized. The involved energy storage includes supercapacitors, li-ions batteries and hydrogen storage, and the corresponding energy conversion technologies contain quantum dot solar cells, dye-sensitized solar cells, silicon/organic solar cells and fuel cells. In addition, the correlation between the core-shell structures and their performance in energy storage and conversion is introduced, and this finding can provide guidance in designing original core-shell structures with advanced properties.

Design of SnO₂ Aggregate/Nanosheet Composite Structures Based on Function-Matching Strategy for Enhanced Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell Performance

Hierarchical SnO₂ nanocrystallites aggregates (NAs) were prepared with a simple room temperature–based aqueous solution method followed by simple freeze-drying treatment. The as-prepared SnO₂ NAs were subsequently combined with SnO₂ nanosheet–based structures from the viewpoint of a function-matching strategy, and under an optimized condition, a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 5.59% was obtained for the resultant hybrid photoanode, a remarkable 60% enhancement compared to that of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) fabricated with bare SnO₂ NAs architecture. The significantly enhanced efficiency can be attributed to the combination of the desirable electron transport property obtained by the intentionally introduced SnO₂ nanosheets (NSs) and the effectively retained inherent characteristics of SnO₂ NAs, i.e., large surface area and strong light-scattering effect. This work provides a promising approach for the rapid development of highly efficient SnO₂ photoanode film-based DSCs with the properties of simplicity of operation and control over the photoanode composition.