Interfacial engineering for dye-sensitized solar cells

Abstract

Dye-sensitized solar cells as “low-cost” alternatives to traditional silicon-based solar cells are promising for clean electricity generation. The key processes in practical devices, such as generation, collection, and recombination of charges that greatly affect the cell performance, occur at interfaces and are influenced by properties of the interfacial materials. In this article, we summarize recent progress of materials and technologies associated with the functionalization of interfaces to significantly improve DSCs' performance, emphasizing greatly the most important semiconductor/dye/electrolyte interface where major energy conversion and charge transfer processes occur. Finally, the prospects of interfacial engineering for highly efficient dye-sensitized solar cells are highlighted in the outlook.