Water-based electrolytes for sustainable Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

Emerging photovoltaic (PV) technologies have evolved rapidly in the past few decades and a large variety of materials and device structures have been proposed in literature.[1] Among them, dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) are of particular interest due to simple fabrication procedures, low-cost manufacturing processes and low dependence on the incident angle of irradiation.[2] However, the main drawback of DSSCs relies in the use, within the electrolyte formulation, of organic solvents that are toxic, volatile and flammable. In last years, water-based electrolytes have been proposed as a valid and sustainable alternative to organic counterparts.[3] Moreover, the possibility of gelling the electrolyte into a polymeric matrix can reduce the leakage outside the device, thus increasing the long-term stability.[4] If opportunely developed and optimized, water-based DSSCs may represent a breakthrough towards the large-scale deployment of truly low-impact photovoltaic devices. In this contribution, we resume our recent efforts in the development of aqueous electrolytes (both in liquid and in quasi-solid state) exploiting readily available and abundant materials with sustainable synthetic routes. [1] A. Anctil, et al., J. Photon. Energy, 2023, 13(4) 042301. [2] S. Rahman, et al.. RSC Adv., 2023, 13, 19508. [3] S. Galliano, et al., Solar Energy, 2018, 163, 251. [4] A. Y. Segura Zarate, et al., Solar Energy, 2024, 272, 112470.