Fabrication of flexible dye sensitized solar cells on plastic substrates

This article introduces the latest progress in the research on fabrication of flexible dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), in particular the choice of flexible plastic substrates replacing the conventionally used rigid glass substrates. A major challenge for making DSSCs on plastic substrates is the temperature limitation of the substrate in producing the TiO2 working electrode. Several low-temperature fabrication methods for nano-porous TiO2 films, such as ball-milling, acid/water treatments, chemical vapor deposition and electrophoretic deposition, as well as recently studied chemical and mechanical film processing methods such as chemical sintering, hydrothermal treatment, microwave irradiation, and different compression techniques are extensively discussed here. It also presents studies on new fabrication methods of flexible counter electrodes and recently developed new materials particularly useful for flexible DSSCs. At last, the developments and prospects of fabricating large scale flexible DSSC modules and their durability are discussed.

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► Processing of flexible dye-sensitized solar cells on plastic substrates is reviewed.
► Low-temperature fabrication methods for producing TiO2 working electrodes and different counter electrodes are summarized.
► Mesoporous TiO2 beads are reported as a particularly useful building block material for flexible DSSCs on plastic substrates.
► Prospects of fabricating large scale flexible DSSC modules and their durability are discussed.