A method for manufacturing an electrochemical device, implementing a process for manufacturing a porous electrode having a porous layer deposited on a substrate, the porous layer having a porosity of between 20% and 60% by volume and pores with an average diameter of less than 50 nm. The method includes providing a substrate and a colloidal suspension including aggregates or agglomerates of monodisperse primary nanoparticles of an active electrode material, having an average primary diameter of between 2 and 60 nm, the aggregates or agglomerates having an average diameter of between 50 nm and 300 nm, then depositing a layer from the colloidal suspension on the substrate, then drying and consolidating the layer to obtain a mesoporous layer, and then depositing a coating of an electronically conductive material on and inside the pores of the layer.

A solid junction-type photoelectric conversion element (10) including a first conductive layer (2), an electric power generation layer (4), and a second conductive layer (6), which are laminated in this order, wherein the electric power generation layer (4) comprises: a perovskite compound represented by a composition formula ABX.sub.3, formed of an organic cation A, a metal cation B and a halide anion X, and a compound Z having no perovskite structure.

A simple, one-step method for producing a homogenous CeO.sub.2—TiO.sub.2 composite thin film using aerosol-assisted chemical vapor deposition (“CVD”) of a solution containing triacetatocerium (III) and tetra isopropoxytitanium (IV) on a fluorine-doped tin oxide (“FTO”) substrate at a temperature ranging from about 500 to about 650° C. Methods for using the film produced by this method.

A solar cell according to the present disclosure includes a first electrode, a second electrode, a photoelectric conversion layer located between the first electrode and the second electrode, and a semiconductor layer located between the first electrode and the photoelectric conversion layer, in which at least one selected from the group consisting of the first electrode and the second electrode is translucent, and the semiconductor layer contains a compound containing Na, Zn, and O.

A solar cell device having a solid state light absorber region that incorporates a donor-acceptor particle structure. The particle structure includes acceptor particles that generate a flow of electrons in the solid state light absorber region in response to absorbed photons; and donor particles comprising a phosphorescent material, wherein each donor particle is coupled to a group of acceptor particles, and wherein the phosphorescent material absorbs high energy photons and emits lower energy photons that are absorbed by the acceptor particles.

A dye-sensitized solar panel includes a titanium nanoparticle layer and a plant-derived photo-sensitizer supported on the titanium nanoparticle layer. The photo-sensitizer can be extracted from chard (B. vulgaris subsp. cicla), and the titanium nanoparticle layer includes titanium nanoparticles synthesized using henna (Lawsonia inermis). The titanium nanoparticle layer can, in addition to titanium nanoparticles, include zinc oxide nanoparticles.

The present invention provides a method of producing a composite photocatalyst having a remarkable water splitting activity, which is capable of efficiently loading a co-catalyst having a small particle size in a highly dispersed manner on a surface of an optical semiconductor. According to the present invention, the method of producing a composite photocatalyst from a plurality types of optical semiconductors includes a step of heating a solid-liquid mixture containing a solvent, a co-catalyst or a co-catalyst source, and a plurality of types of optical semiconductors by irradiating the solid-liquid mixture with microwave.

Transmission of low energy light is one of the primary loss mechanisms of a single junction solar cell. Molecular photon upconversion via triplet-triplet annihilation (TTA-UC)—combining two or more low energy photons to generate a higher energy excited state—is an intriguing strategy to surpass this limit. The present disclosure is directed to self-assembled multilayers, e.g., bi- or trilayers, on metal oxide surfaces as a strategy to facilitate TTA-UC emission and demonstrate direct charge separation of the upconverted state. A three-fold enhancement in transient photocurrent is achieved at light intensities as low as two equivalent suns. The multilayer structure comprises a substrate comprising a metal oxide surface and a bulk region, and a self-assembled bilayer film, the bilayer film comprising: (a) an acceptor molecule covalently bonded to the metal oxide surface; (b) a linking metal ion bonded to the acceptor molecule; and (c) one or more sensitizer molecule(s) bonded to the linking co-ordinating metal ion.

Photovoltaic devices such as solar cells, hybrid solar cell-batteries, and other such devices may include an active layer disposed between two electrodes. The active layer may have perovskite material and other material such as mesoporous material, interfacial layers, thin-coat interfacial layers, and combinations thereof. The perovskite material may be photoactive. The perovskite material may be disposed between two or more other materials in the photovoltaic device. Inclusion of these materials in various arrangements within an active layer of a photovoltaic device may improve device performance. Other materials may be included to further improve device performance, such as, for example: additional perovskites, and additional interfacial layers.

Disclosed herein are precursor compounds, composite electrodes comprising the same, and methods of making and use thereof.