Hybrid Organic/Inorganic Solar Cells with Fluorous Components

Photovoltaic (PV) technologies can provide a significant contribution to the world's compelling need to replace fossil fuels with renewable, non-polluting energy sources. Extensive efforts are currently directed towards to the development of inexpensive PV devices that could complement mature PV technologies, in particular for off-grid applications in remote areas and for the construction of smart windows in energy efficient buildings. In this context, semitransparent dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) based on the sensitization of a nanostructured semiconductor metal oxide interface by a photoexcited dye hold much promise. The design of suitable photosensitizers remains one of the most important research topics in DSSCs and several families of light-absorbing compounds with different molecular structures have been investigated, in the hope to upgrade the PV parameters and lifetime service of DSSCs. This intense activity has provided a lot of information about the relationship between the chemical structures of dyes and their efficiencies in DSSCs. Effective molecular design strategies leading to optimized photosensitizers have thus emerged, but still there is room for improvement. Here we focus on the effects of fluorous modifiers and the incorporation of two light absorbing units in the dye structure. The replacement of hydrocarbon chains with fluorous residues is not limited to dyes, but can be extended to other components of DSCCs, such as the redox plus supporting electrolyte system that ensures the electron flow in the cell, and to the organic components of another family of hybrid PV devices, namely perovskite solar cells (PSCs) of various configurations.