Dye Sensitized Solar Cell Using Natural Dyes as Chromophores - Review

The molecular dye is an essential component of the Dye sensitized solar cell (DSSC), and improvements in efficiency over the last 15 years have been achieved by tailoring the optoelectronic properties of the dye. The most successful dyes are based on ruthenium bipyridyl compounds, which are characterized by a large absorption coefficient in the visible part of the solar spectrum, good adsorption properties, excellent stability, and efficient electron injection. However, ruthenium-based compounds are relatively expensive, and organic dyes with similar characteristics and even higher absorption coefficients have recently been reported; solar cells with efficiencies of up to 9% have been reported. Organic dyes with a higher absorption coefficient could translate into thinner nanostructured metal oxide films, which would be advantageous for charge transport both in the metal oxide and in the permeating phase, allowing for the use of higher viscosity materials such as ionic liquids, solid electrolytes or hole conductors. Organic dyes used in the DSSC often bear a resemblance to dyes found in plants, fruits, and other natural products, and several dye-sensitized solar cells with natural dyes have been reported. This paper gives an over-view of the recent works in DSSC using the natural dyes as chromophores.