Photon-responsive nanomaterials for solar cells

The global issue of the utmost exhaustion of fossil fuels on earth has driven research towards the development of alternative energy resources to meet the increasing demand for energy required in modern society. Among the different types of renewable sources, solar energy is the largest energy source which is unlimited and clean. Currently solar cells or photovoltaic (PV) technologies that generate electricity by harnessing sunlight is one of the fastest growing power generation sources in the energy sector. In this chapter we review the application of nanomaterials in some types of solar cells including dye-sensitized solar cells, quantum dots solar cells and perovskite solar cells. Semiconductor materials such as TiO2, ZnOx, SnOx, NiOx etc have been widely used as electron or hole transport materials in these type of solar cells. The morphology, shape, size, crystal structure of particles of these materials can significantly influence the device performance. The outlook of the future research direction is provided at the end of the review.</p