Panchromatic porphyrin-based dye-sensitized solar cells: from cosensitization to concerted companion dye approaches

Abstract

With the advantages of environmental friendliness, easy fabrication, and rich colors, dye-sensitized solor cells (DSSCs) are promising for applications in architectural decoration as well as power supply for low energy devices. Among the various dyes, porphyrins have been developed as a class of efficient DSSC dyes. However, porphyrin dyes still suffer from absorption defects and rather strong aggregation tendencies associated with the large conjugation frameworks. To address these problems, various approaches have been developed for achieving panchromatic absorption and high efficiency. This review briefly summarizes recent progresses in the area of cosensitization of porphyrin dyes to fill up the absorption defects in the UV/blue, green and near-infrared regions, respectively. On this basis, supramolecular dye systems and multi-chromophore dyes have been presented. In addition, concerted companion (CC) dyes consisting of porphyrin and organic sub-dye units have been described in detail. Based on the summary of the recent progress made in developing efficient DSSCs, promising directions for future research studies are discussed and prospected.