Solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells with conjugated polymers as hole-transporting materials

Abstract

DSCs are a promising alternative to conventional silicon-based solar cells owing to their low cost and relatively high efficiency. However, the utilization of a liquid electrolyte containing the iodine/iodide redox couple in traditional DSCs brings practical problems for their long-term application, which leads to rapid development of SDSCs based on inorganic p-type semiconductors or organic HTMs. In this review, we summarize the current research on SDSCs using conjugated polymer as HTM. Special attention is paid to understand the effects of polymer HTM structure and deposition process on SDSC performance. The limiting factors for SDSC energy conversion efficiency are discussed and strategies to improve device performance are proposed. In this review, the basic configuration and operation principles of solid state dye sensitized solar cells (SDSCs) that incorporate conjugated polymer (CP) hole transporting materials (HTMs) are introduced. The advantages and disadvantages of various types of CP HTMs and the limiting factors on SDSC performance are discussed. Copyright © 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.