Light harvesting with Earth abundant d-block metals: Development of sensitizers in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs)

• Applications of first row d-block metal complexes in dye-sensitized solar cells.
• Replacement of complexes of ruthenium by earth abundant metal complexes in dye-sensitized solar cells.
• Improving solar energy conversion efficiency using earth abundant metal complexes in dye-sensitized solar cells.

Chemistry is facing the challenge of delivering new materials for energy harvesting and management. The development of a materials chemistry in which scarce elements are replaced by more abundant and sustainable materials is crucial to the commercial and societal acceptance of these new technologies. This review surveys the use of complexes of Earth abundant metals from the first row of the d-block as photosensitizers in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs), an emerging technology for solar light harvesting in which state-of-the-art devices currently use ruthenium or other platinum group metal complexes as photosensitizers.