Review

Comparison of Hybrid and Single Dyes for DSSCs: Fabrication, Efficiency, and Economic Evaluation

Seungho Shin 1 * , Kao-Wei Min 2
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1 Mountain Cherry Academy, Yongin-si 16916, Korea2 Department of Electrical Engineering, Cheng Shiu University, Kaohsiung 833, Taiwan* Corresponding Author
Applied Functional Materials, 6(3), September 2026, 1-6, https://doi.org/10.35745/afm2026v06.03.0001
Submitted: 16 March 2026, Published: 30 August 2026
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ABSTRACT

As the global community needs sustainable alternatives to silicon-based photovoltaics, dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) have been regarded as a third-generation technology due to their low-cost fabrication and tunable aesthetics. However, the efficiency of single-sensitizer systems, including high-cost ruthenium complexes and low-stability natural pigments, remains constrained by narrow absorption spectra and rapid charge recombination. The transition from single to hybrid dye systems highlights the technical and economic necessity of multi-chromophore and metal-doped architectures. By integrating previous results on silver doping and cocktail sensitization, hybrid dye systems achieve panchromatic absorption and a significant reduction in the semiconductor bandgap by up to 3.0 eV. The results of this review provide a reference for the development of next-generation sensitizers that offer industrial-grade stability and a lower levelized cost of electricity, facilitating the integration of DSSCs into building-integrated photovoltaics and portable electronics.
Keywords: Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), Co-sensitization, Panchromatic absorption, Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), Power conversion efficiency (PCE), Economic evaluation

CITATION (APA)

Shin, S., & Min, K.-W. (2026). Comparison of Hybrid and Single Dyes for DSSCs: Fabrication, Efficiency, and Economic Evaluation. Applied Functional Materials, 6(3), 1-6. https://doi.org/10.35745/afm2026v06.03.0001

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