Role of Dyestuff in Improving Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell Performance

Abstract

Dye-sensitized solar cells DSSCs have attracted great attention for their simple fabrication process, low production costs, relatively high conversion efficiency, and being environmental friendly. DSSC are a combination of materials, consisting of a transparent electrode coated with a dye-sensitized mesoporous film of nanocrystalline particles of TiO2, an electrolyte containing a suitable redox-couple and a electrode. DSSCs use organic dye assist to produce electricity in a wide range of light conditions, indoors and outdoors. The dye in the solar cell is the key element since it is responsible for light harvesting ability, photoelectron generation (the creation of free charges after injection of electrons into the nanostructured semi-conducting oxide) and electron transfer. For this reason, this paper gives a background of dyestuff, types and limitations. The motivation of this work is to design a simple, easy and prepare an efficient organic dye sensitizer. Also, this paper investigates the important criteria which are considered for selecting dye to enhance DSSC efficiency.