Rational Molecular Design for Highly Efficient Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

近年来，染料敏化太阳能电池引起了与全球环境问题相关的广泛关注。到目前为止，联吡啶Ru(II)配合物已被证明是染料敏化太阳能电池中最有效的二氧化钛增敏剂。然而，在过去的十年中，人们已经认识到最高功率转换效率的逐步提高。更重要的是，考虑到Ru是一种稀有金属，新型不含金属或使用廉价金属的染料是高效染料敏化太阳能电池的理想选择。大的π-芳香族分子，如卟啉、酞菁和茂，由于其光稳定性和高的光捕获能力，可以应用于更薄、低成本的染料敏化太阳能电池，是一类重要的高效染料敏化太阳能电池的潜在敏化剂。它们被认为是高效染料敏化太阳能电池的增感剂。

Recently, dye-sensitized solar cells have attracted much attention relevant to global environmental issues. Thus far, ruthenium(II) bipyridyl complexes have proven to be the most efficient TiO2 sensitizers in dye-sensitized solar cells. However, a gradual increment in the highest power conversion efficiency has been recognized in the past decade. More importantly, considering that ruthenium is a rare metal, novel dyes without metal or using inexpensive metal are desirable for highly efficient dye-sensitized solar cells. Largeπ-aromatic molecules, such as porphyrins, phthalocyanines, and perylenes, are important classes of potential sensitizers for highly efficient dye-sensitized solar cells, owing to their photostability and high light-harvesting capabilities that can allow applications in thinner, low-cost dye-sensitized solar cells. They were found to be promising as sensitizers for highly efficient dye-sensitized solar cells.