A redox electrolyte
is a crucial part of dye-sensitized solar cells
(DSSCs), which plays a significant role in the photovoltage and photocurrent
of the DSSCs through efficient dye regeneration and minimization of
charge recombination. An I–/I3
– redox shuttle has been mostly utilized, but it limits the open-circuit
voltage (V
oc) to 0.7–0.8 V. To
improve the V
oc value, an alternative
redox shuttle with more positive redox potential is required. Thus,
by utilizing cobalt complexes with polypyridyl ligands, a significant
power conversion efficiency (PCE) of above 14% with a high V
oc of up to 1 V under 1-sun illumination was
achieved. Recently, the V
oc of a DSSC
has exceeded 1 V with a PCE of around 15% by using Cu-complex-based
redox shuttles. The PCE of over 34% in DSSCs under ambient light by
using these Cu-complex-based redox shuttles also proves the potential
for the commercialization of DSSCs in indoor applications. However,
most of the developed highly efficient porphyrin and organic dyes
cannot be used for the Cu-complex-based redox shuttles due to their
higher positive redox potentials. Therefore, the replacement of suitable
ligands in Cu complexes or an alternative redox shuttle with a redox
potential of 0.45–0.65 V has been required to utilize the highly
efficient porphyrin and organic dyes. As a consequence, for the first
time, the proposed strategy for a PCE enhancement of over 16% in DSSCs
with a suitable redox shuttle is made by finding a superior counter
electrode to enhance the fill factor and a suitable near-infrared
(NIR)-absorbing dye for cosensitization with the existing dyes to
further broaden the light absorption and enhance the short-circuit
current density (J
sc) value. This review
comprehensively analyzes the redox shuttles and redox-shuttle-based
liquid electrolytes for DSSCs and gives recent progress and perspectives.