Porphyrin-sensitized solar cells

Nature has chosen chlorophylls in plants as antennae to harvest light for the conversion of solar energy in complicated photosynthetic processes. Inspired by natural photosynthesis, scientists utilized artificial chlorophylls - the porphyrins - as efficient centres to harvest light for solar cells sensitized with a porphyrin (PSSC). After the first example appeared in 1993 of a porphyrin of type copper chlorophyll as a photosensitizer for PSSC that achieved a power conversion efficiency of 2.6%, no significant advance of PSSC was reported until 2005; beta-linked zinc porphyrins were then reported to show promising device performances with a benchmark efficiency of 7.1% reported in 2007. Meso-linked zinc…

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  National Science Council