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Trends and Prospects in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

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A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "A2: Solar Energy and Photovoltaic Systems".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2023) | Viewed by 5439

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Lucia Fagiolari

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Guest Editor

Department of Applied Science and Technology, Politecnico di Torino, 10129 Torino, Italy
Interests: dye-sensitized solar cell; perovskite solar cell; water splitting; layered double hydroxide; materials for energy conversion and storage; potassium-based batteries

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In this Special Issue, we are collecting original submissions of new research outcomes or reviews concerning the dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) field. Our aim is to establish a collection of papers that will be of interest to scholars in the field.

Interest in DSSCs is greatly increasing, as well as the number of papers dedicated to this topic. DSSCs are regarded worldwide as a complementary technology with respect to traditional silicon solar cells or to perovskite solar cells, since they can also be used for indoor application. In addition, their transparency allows the use as smart window. In the last decades, many steps forward have been made in this solar technology, concerning mostly the efficiency, the materials and sustainability, safety and economic features.

Topics of interest of this Special Issue include (but are not limited to):

Transparent (and colorless) DSSCs and building integration;
Sustainability of materials and processes in DSSC fabrication;
Bio- or waste-derived renewable materials for DSSCs;
Flexible and wearable DSSCs;
Electrolytes for DSSCs: gel polymer electrolytes, solid-state electrolytes, quasi solid-state electrolytes;
Aqueous DSSCs;
Integrated devices with a energy storage unit (like batteries or supercaps).

Dr. Lucia Fagiolari
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Energies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

dye-sensitized solar cell
photovoltaic cell
solar energy
energy conversion
flexible
transparent
building integration
smart window
sustainability
renewable energy
bio-based
bio-derived
waste-derived
solid-state electrolyte
gel polymer electrolyte
aqueous electrolyte
integrated devices
carbon-based materials
indoor
cost-effective
wearable

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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17 pages, 5472 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Characterization and Comparison of DSSCs Fabricated with Black Natural Dyes Extracted from Jamun, Black Plum, and Blackberry

by Ahmed Sikder, William Ghann, Md Rafsun Jani, Md Tohidul Islam, Saquib Ahmed, Mohammed M. Rahman, Md Abdul Majed Patwary, Mohsin Kazi, Jahidul Islam, Faisal I. Chowdhury, Mohammad A. Yousuf, Mohammad Mahbub Rabbani, Mohammad Hossain Shariare and Jamal Uddin

Energies 2023, 16(20), 7187; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16207187 - 21 Oct 2023

Viewed by 1133

Abstract

In this report, natural dyes extracted from three different, black-colored fruits were used as photosensitizers for the construction of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The natural dyes were extracted from the dark-colored peels of jamun (also known as Indian black plum), black plum, and blackberry fruit. These natural dyes contain polyphenolic compounds—most prominently anthocyanins—which interact strongly with titanium dioxide (TiO₂) semiconductors and accordingly enhance the efficiency of DSSCs. The natural dyes extracted from the various fruits were characterized utilizing UV-Vis and fluorescence spectroscopy. The interaction between the dyes and TiO₂ was monitored with FTIR and Raman spectroscopy. The fabricated DSSCs were characterized via current–voltage measurements and electrochemical impedance analysis. DSSCs fabricated with jamun produced the highest efficiency of 1.09% with a short-circuit current of 7.84 mA/cm², an open-circuit voltage of 0.45 V, and a fill factor of 0.31. The efficiencies of the DSSCs from black plum and blackberry were 0.55% and 0.38%, respectively. The flow of charge occurring at the interfaces between the natural dye and the TiO₂ layers were investigated using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to directly compare three distinct types of black DSSCs. Computation analysis was also carried out utilizing SCAPS-1D software (version 3.3.07), which revealed how the type of defects in the devices impacts their performance. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Trends and Prospects in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells)

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11 pages, 2242 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Characteristics of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell under PWM Illumination: Toward Indoor Light-Energy Harvesting in the Solid-State Lighting Era

by Kazuya Tada

Energies 2022, 15(24), 9553; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15249553 - 16 Dec 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1497

Abstract

The dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) has been on the market as a permanent power source for indoor IoT edge devices. In recent years, indoor illumination technology has been experiencing a drastic transition from incandescent and fluorescent lamps toward solid-state lighting devices with light-emitting diodes (LEDs). In addition to the high power efficiency, a virtue of LEDs is their prompt response, which enables precise change of the illumination level using pulse-width modulation (PWM) of the current source, and thus PWM illumination is commonly installed in society. The light intensity change from off to on states of an LED under PWM driving is literally infinity, which causes the lighting to flicker. The lighting flicker induces not only an optical illusion but also biological effects, including serious health problems, which can be mitigated by raising the modulation frequency. Because the peak intensity of a PWM illumination can be 100 times that of the average intensity, the indoor solar cell, which has a relatively high series resistance, is expected to underperform. In this paper, the characteristics of a commercial indoor DSSC under PWM illumination are studied. It is found that while PWM illumination at low frequency seriously deteriorates the performance of the DSSC, it recovers at high frequency. The latter feature is not found in indoor amorphous-Si solar cells, and the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy revealed that it stems from the electrochemical nature of some components of the series impedance in the DSSC, offering a key piece of evidence of the superiority for use in the modern indoor application of the DSSC over traditional amorphous-Si solar cells. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Trends and Prospects in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells)

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Review

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16 pages, 1928 KiB

Open AccessReview

A Review on Liquid Electrolyte Stability Issues for Commercialization of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSC)

by Angellina Ebenezer Anitha and Marius Dotter

Energies 2023, 16(13), 5129; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16135129 - 03 Jul 2023

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1708

Abstract

Dye-sensitized solar cells have been under development for the last three decades but are yet to see the market. This has been attributed to stability issues of the electrolyte in the cell. Electrolytes can be liquid, quasi-solid, or solid. Liquid electrolytes were the first to be developed and, therefore, have been subject to radical revisions in both composition and applicability. They have shown the best power conversion efficiencies but have poor thermal stability. Although quasi-solid and solid-state electrolytes were developed to overcome these stability issues, they too have their limits. The aim of this paper is to explore the development of liquid electrolytes, outlining the current state of the technology and considering their potential in the photovoltaic market. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Trends and Prospects in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells)

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