Molecular designs, synthetic strategies, and properties for porphyrins as sensitizers in dye-sensitized solar cells

During the past decades, many efforts have been made to develop porphyrin sensitizers for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) due to their easy fabrication, low-cost production, and relatively high power conversion efficiency (PCE). Some of the molecular design principles and synthetic strategies have been proved to be able to construct high-performance porphyrin-based DSSCs. Herein, we focus on the promising and effective synthetic strategies for rationally designing porphyrins as sensitizers, and emphasize the crucial factors that have a profound impact on the photovoltaic performance to offer insightful views on the correlation between the molecular structure and photovoltaic performance.

Automated summary

In recent decades, significant efforts have been devoted to developing porphyrin sensitizers for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) due to their advantages of easy fabrication, low-cost production, and relatively high power conversion efficiency (PCE). Certain molecular design principles and synthetic strategies have been proven effective in constructing high-performance porphyrin-based DSSCs. This review emphasizes the promising and effective synthetic strategies for rational design of porphyrins as sensitizers and highlights the key factors that greatly influence the photovoltaic performance, providing insightful perspectives on the correlation between molecular structure and photovoltaic performance.