Abstracto

Dye Sensitized Solar Cell

Gowtham Sankar, Ilansuriyan Thenarasu, Hemnath Natarajan

The development of new types of solar cells is promoted by increasing public awareness that the earth’s oil reserves could run out during this century. As the energy need of the planet is likely to double within the next 50 years and frightening climatic consequences of the greenhouse effect caused by fossil fuel combustion are anticipated, it is urgent that we develop a new kind of renewable energy to cover the substantial deficit left by fossil fuels. Since the prototype of a Dye Sensitized Solar Cell (DSSC) was reported in 1991, it has aroused intense interest owing to its low cost, simple preparation procedure, and benign effect on the environments. However, the potential problems caused by liquid electrolyte limit the long-term performance and practical use of DSSC. Therefore, much attention has been given to improving the light-to-electrical power conversion and replacing the liquid electrolytes by solid-state or quasi-solidstate electrolytes. This review will focus on progress in the development of improved electrolytes, especially quasisolid- state electrolytes such as Titanium Dioxide (TiO2) for DSSC’s.