Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are becoming significant because of their interesting semiconducting and photonic properties. In particular, TMDs such as molybdenum disulfide (MoS2), molybdenum diselenide (MoSe2), tungsten disulfide (WS2), tungsten diselenide (WSe2), titanium disulfide (TiS2), tantalum sulfide (TaS2), and niobium selenide (NbSe2) are increasingly attracting attention for their applications in solar cell devices. In this review, we give a brief introduction to TMDs with a focus on MoS2; and thereafter, emphasize the role of atomically thin MoS2 layers in fabricating solar cell devices, including bulk-heterojunction, organic, and perovskites-based solar cells. Layered MoS2 has been used as the hole-transport layer (HTL), electron-transport layer (ETL), interfacial layer, and protective layer in fabricating heterojunction solar cells. The trilayer graphene/MoS2/n-Si solar cell devices exhibit a power-conversion efficiency of 11.1%. The effects of plasma and chemical doping on the photovoltaic performance of MoS2 solar cells have been analyzed. After doping and electrical gating, a power-conversion efficiency (PCE) of 9.03% has been observed for the MoS2/h-BN/GaAs heterostructure solar cells. The MoS2-containing perovskites-based solar cells show a PCE as high as 13.3%. The PCE of MoS2-based organic solar cells exceeds 8.40%. The stability of MoS2 solar cells measured under ambient conditions and light illumination has been discussed. The MoS2-based materials show a great potential for solar cell devices along with high PCE; however, in this connection, their long-term environmental stability is also of equal importance for commercial applications.
Keywords: MoS2 electron- and hole-transport layers; bulk-heterojunction solar cells (BHJ); molybdenum disulfide (MoS2); photoactive layer; stability of MoS2 solar cells.