Versatility of Photosensitizers in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSCs)

Because of their scientific relevance in the field of energy conversion, dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) have become a focus of major studies in the last two decades. At present, DSSC is generally either sensitized with inorganic dyes, metal-free organic dyes, or natural dyes. These dyes have emerged as potential alternatives to costly and scarce Ru-based dyes because of being economical, simple attainability, ease of preparation, and environmental friendliness. The majority of alternatives to Ru-based dyes have so far proved to be inferior to Ru-based dyes due to their fragility, narrow absorption bands, and unfavorable dye aggregation. The present review focuses on recent research about sensitizers comprising inorganic dyes, metal-free organic dyes, and natural dyes for DSSCs. Following the introduction, Section 2 describes the DSSC operation, including the essential operational principles and basic components of a DSSC. Section 3 introduces various photosensitizers used in DSSC, and Section 4 states the conclusion and outlook on the field of DSSC research. It also describes and summarizes related sensitizers and their efficiency.