Progress in the performance of dye sensitized solar cells by incorporating cost effective counter electrodes

The Gratzel cell commonly known as dye sensitized solar cell is one of the most attractive cost effective and efficient photovoltaic device. In contrast to the traditional p-n junction photovoltaic cells, dye sensitized solar cell (DSSC) yields comparable power conversion efficiency at low fabrication cost. Generally, platinum (Pt) is used as counter electrode in DSSCs but due to high cost, dearth of resources and instability in electrolyte solution constrained the use of platinum electrodes for low cost production of DSSCs. Different materials like metals, metals carbides, oxides, nitrides, polymers, carbon based materials and composite materials have been extensively evaluated as alternatives to Pt based counter electrodes (CEs). This article reviews the incorporation of different CEs to enhance the efficiency and cost effectiveness of DSSCs. The application of these materials enhance overall power conversion efficiency to generate reliable and highly efficient photovoltaic (PV) devices for future technological applications.