Design of molecular dyes for application in photoelectrochemical and electrochromic devices based on nanocrystalline metal oxide semiconductors

This review describes the work which has mainly been developed in our laboratory on photoelectrochemical solar cells and on electrochemical devices in which suitable dyes are used for light harvesting and interfacial electron transfer processes with nanocrystalline wide band-gap semiconductors. A summary of results obtained over the last ten years in the field of supramolecular photochemistry at semiconductor interfaces is presented. A particular attention is given to the design and characterization of coordination compounds that can be integrated into semiconductor devices and to the present status of research on this new generation of photovoltaic and electrochromic devices. These studies provide a general molecular approach for the controlled conversion of light into an electrical response and thus have potential applications in solar devices, displays, sensors. electrochromic, and other molecular photonic devices. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.