Progress and Prospects of Biomolecular Materials in Solar Photovoltaic Applications
This Review examines up-to-date advancements in the integration of biomolecules and solar energy technologies, with a particular focus on biohybrid photovoltaic systems. Biomolecules have recently garnered increasing interest as functional components in a wide range of solar cell architectures, sinc...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2025-08-01
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| Series: | Molecules |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/30/15/3236 |
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| author | Anna Fricano Filippo Tavormina Bruno Pignataro Valeria Vetri Vittorio Ferrara |
| author_facet | Anna Fricano Filippo Tavormina Bruno Pignataro Valeria Vetri Vittorio Ferrara |
| author_sort | Anna Fricano |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This Review examines up-to-date advancements in the integration of biomolecules and solar energy technologies, with a particular focus on biohybrid photovoltaic systems. Biomolecules have recently garnered increasing interest as functional components in a wide range of solar cell architectures, since they offer a huge variety of structural, optical, and electronic properties, useful to fulfill multiple roles within photovoltaic devices. These roles span from acting as light-harvesting sensitizers and charge transport mediators to serving as micro- and nanoscale structural scaffolds, rheological modifiers, and interfacial stabilizers. In this Review, a comprehensive overview of the state of the art about the integration of biomolecules across the various generations of photovoltaics is provided. The functional roles of pigments, DNA, proteins, and polysaccharides are critically reported improvements and limits associated with the use of biological molecules in optoelectronics. The molecular mechanisms underlying the interaction between biomolecules and semiconductors are also discussed as essential for a functional integration of biomolecules in solar cells. Finally, this Review shows the current state of the art, and the most significant results achieved in the use of biomolecules in solar cells, with the main scope of outlining some guidelines for future further developments in the field of biohybrid photovoltaics. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-a0a7855147a846d18d046bbd25771fe1 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1420-3049 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Molecules |
| spelling | doaj-art-a0a7855147a846d18d046bbd25771fe12025-08-20T03:36:32ZengMDPI AGMolecules1420-30492025-08-013015323610.3390/molecules30153236Progress and Prospects of Biomolecular Materials in Solar Photovoltaic ApplicationsAnna Fricano0Filippo Tavormina1Bruno Pignataro2Valeria Vetri3Vittorio Ferrara4Dipartimento di Fisica e Chimica- Emilio Segrè, Università degli Studi di Palermo, 90128 Palermo, ItalyDipartimento di Scienza e Alta Tecnologia and To.Sca.Lab, Università dell’Insubria, 22100 Como, ItalyDipartimento di Fisica e Chimica- Emilio Segrè, Università degli Studi di Palermo, 90128 Palermo, ItalyDipartimento di Fisica e Chimica- Emilio Segrè, Università degli Studi di Palermo, 90128 Palermo, ItalyDipartimento di Fisica e Chimica- Emilio Segrè, Università degli Studi di Palermo, 90128 Palermo, ItalyThis Review examines up-to-date advancements in the integration of biomolecules and solar energy technologies, with a particular focus on biohybrid photovoltaic systems. Biomolecules have recently garnered increasing interest as functional components in a wide range of solar cell architectures, since they offer a huge variety of structural, optical, and electronic properties, useful to fulfill multiple roles within photovoltaic devices. These roles span from acting as light-harvesting sensitizers and charge transport mediators to serving as micro- and nanoscale structural scaffolds, rheological modifiers, and interfacial stabilizers. In this Review, a comprehensive overview of the state of the art about the integration of biomolecules across the various generations of photovoltaics is provided. The functional roles of pigments, DNA, proteins, and polysaccharides are critically reported improvements and limits associated with the use of biological molecules in optoelectronics. The molecular mechanisms underlying the interaction between biomolecules and semiconductors are also discussed as essential for a functional integration of biomolecules in solar cells. Finally, this Review shows the current state of the art, and the most significant results achieved in the use of biomolecules in solar cells, with the main scope of outlining some guidelines for future further developments in the field of biohybrid photovoltaics.https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/30/15/3236photovoltaicssolar energy technologiesbiomoleculeshybrid photovoltaic systems |
| spellingShingle | Anna Fricano Filippo Tavormina Bruno Pignataro Valeria Vetri Vittorio Ferrara Progress and Prospects of Biomolecular Materials in Solar Photovoltaic Applications Molecules photovoltaics solar energy technologies biomolecules hybrid photovoltaic systems |
| title | Progress and Prospects of Biomolecular Materials in Solar Photovoltaic Applications |
| title_full | Progress and Prospects of Biomolecular Materials in Solar Photovoltaic Applications |
| title_fullStr | Progress and Prospects of Biomolecular Materials in Solar Photovoltaic Applications |
| title_full_unstemmed | Progress and Prospects of Biomolecular Materials in Solar Photovoltaic Applications |
| title_short | Progress and Prospects of Biomolecular Materials in Solar Photovoltaic Applications |
| title_sort | progress and prospects of biomolecular materials in solar photovoltaic applications |
| topic | photovoltaics solar energy technologies biomolecules hybrid photovoltaic systems |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/30/15/3236 |
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