Discotic liquid crystals (DLCs), a class of aromatic compounds, have a core structure containing benzene rings attached with mobile alkyl chains. While the core enhances the conductivity of DLCs, the mobile alkyl chains make it a semi-insulating material with induced hydrophobicity. Dye-sensitized solar cells are hybrid device structures that suffer instability due to the volatile nature of the electrolyte used in them. For this purpose, we have prepared a physical gel of DLCs that induces the low parasitic effect due to their fibrous structure and hydrophobic nature. In this work, DLCs and co-sensitized dyes have been used to fabricate high-efficiency devices (best up to 7.6%) that show promising optoelectronic characteristics with less recombination rate. Moreover, we shall be studying the mixed dimensional perovskites-based absorbers' interaction with the liquid crystalline hole transporter materials for the further enhanced efficiency and stability of the emerging devices.

Reference:
 Ain, Q. U., Iqbal, S., Ali, S. A., Saleem, M., Rehman, H. U., ulHaq, A., & Khan, A. A. (2021). Engineering fibre morphology in self-assembled physical gels of a prototypical discotic liquid crystal. Liquid Crystals, 48(6), 888-901.