Nanocarbons for mesoscopic perovskite solar cells

Organic-inorganic halides based perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have attracted a great deal of attention from the photovoltaic (PV) research community due to the extremely rapid increases in efficiencies observed over the past few years. The PSC is an extension of dye-sensitised solar cells and has reached an energy conversion efficiency of 19.3% by mid-2014. However, PSCs do have some disadvantages such as use of expensive metal electrodes, the high temperature required during production and poor stability when in use. There is no doubt that research with carbon nanomaterials will play an important role in understanding and solving the issues currently observed in PSCs, as they consistently have been shown to improve performance in a wide range of energy related applications. The present review (i) provides a brief introduction to PSC development; (ii) highlights the notable achievements of PSCs; (iii) particularly focuses on the use of nanocarbon in mesoscopic PSCs and (iv) predicts and suggests a roadmap for the future application of carbon materials in this emerging technology.