Minireview and Perspectives of Liquid Crystals in Perovskite Solar Cells

Abstract

The development of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) has gained attention with the ever increasing demand for energy conversion systems across the globe. In this context, utilization of certain liquid crystals (LCs) has been found to play a crucial role in enhancing the stability and efficiency of the PSC in the last 5 years. At this point, it is a high time to cover the recent achievements of LC molecules in the fabrication of PSC devices. Thus, the present review encompasses the introduction to LC and PSC, the effect of LC-based additives to perovskite precursors, the role of LC molecules in stabilizing and enhancing the efficiency of the PSCs, and the use of LC molecules as hole-transporting materials (HTMs) or as an additive to the HTMs. Further, all of these studies revealed that the functional group and conjugation present in the LC molecules as well as their phase transition behavior play a vital role in stabilizing and enhancing the efficiency of the PSCs. The addition of LCs in PSCs is one of among various emerging strategies that started recently, and we expect that this review can guide the researchers in selecting LC molecules for PSC applications to improve the stability and power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the device in the near future.

Electrospun Nanofiber-Based Electrolytes for Next-Generation Quasi-Solid Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells: A Review

“…Moreover, within 200 years, most of them may be completely depleted. − The impending depletion of natural resources and their undesirable impact on the environment have encouraged many researchers and scientists to focus on an alternative energy source that should be reliable, cost-effective, abundant in nature, renewable, and environmentally friendly. For the last few decades, the use of several renewable energy sources like hydropower, tidal energy, wind energy, solar energy, biomass-derived fuels, and geothermal energy has been attempted. − Among all these, the solar irradiation-based dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) has become the most prominent one. − One of the recent studies estimated that if 0.2% of the Earth’s surface is covered with DSSCs having an efficiency of 5%, the world’s overall power demands will be fulfilled …”