Recent advances in the photovoltaic applications of coordination polymers and metal organic frameworks

Coordination polymers and metal organic frameworks (CPs/MOFs) have attracted a great deal of attention in a variety of scientific fields due to their unique and intriguing structural properties. Photovoltaic applications of these porous polymers belong to a relatively new area of research. The current status of research on this subject amply highlights the usefulness of CPs/MOFs in improving the properties of next-generation photovoltaic devices (e.g., dye-sensitized solar cells). This review article was written to cover the recent advancements that have been achieved in this rapidly expanding area of research. It also compares and contrasts the energy conversion efficiencies in photovoltaic applications using different MOFs and other systems.One of the authors (Rajnish Kaur) acknowledges the Department of Science and Technology (DST), India for her Research Fellowship. Financial support from the CSIR India project grant OMEGA/PSC0202/2.2.5 is also gratefully acknowledged. We are grateful to the Director, CSIR-CSIO, Chandigarh, India. The third author also acknowledges partial support from the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology (MEST) (No. 2009-0093848)