Aqueous electrolytes for dye-sensitized solar cells

Dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) are photovoltaic systems able to convert solar energy into electricity and, nowadays, represent the most investigated alternative to conventional Si-based devices. The first cells have been fabricated with organic solvent-based liquid electrolytes, achieving high efficiency performance. However, these solvents not only present high vapor pressure, but are also toxic and flammable. In the last few years, the idea of moving towards a water-based system clearly emerged, especially for a large scale diffusion of this technology. DSSCs fabricated with water-based electrolytes may offer reduced costs, non-flammability and environmental compatibility, but the presence of water in the cell may reduce the long-term stability as well as the photovoltaic performance. In this work, the study of different truly aqueous electrolytes is presented and a chemometric approach, useful to investigate and optimize their efficiency and stability, is effectively demonstrated.