Low-temperature fabrication of metal-organic-frameworks/TiO2 photoanode for flexible dye-sensitized solar cells

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are utilized to integrate with TiO2 to enhance the solar-to-electricity conversion efficiency. The porphyrin-based MOF PCN-222 is the focus of the study. The MOF/TiO2 composite is deposited on a flexible ITO-PEN (polyethylene naphthalate) substrate under low-temperature (<150 degrees C) conditions. The resulting flexible DSSC demonstrates faster electron diffusion and improved charge carrier separation ability, achieving an efficiency of 4.41 % under 100 mW cm(-2), AM 1.5 global illumination. In comparison to the traditional FTO-glass-based DSSC, this type of flexible DSSC shows great potential for application in wearable electronic devices.