CHARGE-TRANSFER STATES IN DYE-SENSITIZED SOLAR CELLS AND LIGHT-HARVESTING MOLECULES: SUBSTANTIAL IMPROVEMENTS FROM RANGE-SEPARATED TIME-DEPENDENT DFT

摘要

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) have gained immense interest in the last few years due to their potential for converting clean solar energy to electricity at low cost. Originally introduced by Gratzel and co-workers in 1991, several researchers have studied their use in fabricating nanostructured films, improving photovoltaic devices, and to gain a general scientific understanding of charge-transfer between material interfaces. Although the origins of their work had focused on ruthenium dye complexes, current research is now directed towards organic dye sensitizers which are less expensive and easier to synthesize.