The dye-sensitized solar cell database

BACKGROUND: Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) have garnered a lot of attention in recent years. The solar energy to power conversion efficiency of a DSSC is influenced by various components of the cell such as the dye, electrolyte, electrodes and additives among others leading to varying experimental configurations. A large number of metal-based and metal-free dye sensitizers have now been reported and tools using such data to indicate new directions for design and development are on the rise. DESCRIPTION: DSSCDB, the first of its kind dye-sensitized solar cell database, aims to provide users with up-to-date information from publications on the molecular structures of the dyes, experimental details and reported measurements (efficiencies and spectral properties) and thereby facilitate a comprehensive and critical evaluation of the data. Currently, the DSSCDB contains over 4000 experimental observations spanning multiple dye classes such as triphenylamines, carbazoles, coumarins, phenothiazines, ruthenium and porphyrins. CONCLUSION: The DSSCDB offers a web-based, comprehensive source of property data for dye sensitized solar cells. Access to the database is available through the following URL: www.dyedb.com. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s13321-018-0272-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.