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Photoelectrochemical cells

Nature volume 414, pages 338–344 (2001)Cite this article

Abstract

Until now, photovoltaics — the conversion of sunlight to electrical power — has been dominated by solid-state junction devices, often made of silicon. But this dominance is now being challenged by the emergence of a new generation of photovoltaic cells, based, for example, on nanocrystalline materials and conducting polymer films. These offer the prospect of cheap fabrication together with other attractive features, such as flexibility. The phenomenal recent progress in fabricating and characterizing nanocrystalline materials has opened up whole new vistas of opportunity. Contrary to expectation, some of the new devices have strikingly high conversion efficiencies, which compete with those of conventional devices. Here I look into the historical background, and present status and development prospects for this new generation of photoelectrochemical cells.

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Figure 1: Principle of operation of photoelectrochemical cells based on n-type semiconductors.
Figure 2: Band positions of several semiconductors in contact with aqueous electrolyte at pH 1.
Figure 3: Schematic of operation of the dye-sensitized electrochemical photovoltaic cell.
Figure 4: Scanning electron micrograph of the surface of a mesoporous anatase film prepared from a hydrothermally processed TiO2 colloid.
Figure 5: The nanocrystalline effect in dye-sensitized solar cells.
Figure 6

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Acknowledgements

I thank the members of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) electrochemical photovoltaics development team, some of whose work is referenced; the industrial organizations whose interest in this PV system has induced them to license the concept and thereby support the research; EPFL; and OFEN (Swiss Federal Office of Energy) for past encouragement and support.

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  1. Institute of Photonics and Interfaces, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne, CH-1015, Switzerland

    Michael Grätzel

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Grätzel, M. Photoelectrochemical cells. Nature 414, 338–344 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/35104607

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