Performance of a new polymer electrolyte incorporated with diphenylamine in nanocrystalline dye-sensitized solar cell (original) (raw)

A novel poly(acrylonitrile)/poly(ethylene glycol)based polymer gel electrolyte for high efficiency dye sensitized solar cells

This research article reports on a systematic approach to the development of polymer gel electrolytes (PGEs) for the applications of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The authors prepared PGE blend using poly(acrylonitrile) (PAN) and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) polymers along with three different ionic salts. They demonstrated a good ionic conductivity of 1.52 Â 10 À2 S cm À1 , which improved PV performance. The conduction mechanism of the (PAN/PEG) PGE is based on the interaction of three cations of distinct sizes, Hex 4 N + , K + , and Li + ions, with the polymer host. The rapid diffusion of I À /I 3 À iodide ions through the pores formed by PEG in the PGE is the primary cause of improved ionic conductivity. Various compositions of (PAN/PEG) have been optimized to obtain a sufficient porous structure and improved photon conversion efficiency (PCE) of the cell, achieving 8.6% in this research. X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), impedance spectroscopy, incident photon conversion efficiency (IPCE) and finally current density voltage (J-V) characterization techniques are used to analyze and compare the results with those of liquid electrolyte-based cells.

Dye sensitized solar cell with carbon doped (PAN/PEG) polymer quasi-solid gel electrolyte

Quasi-solid gel polymer electrolytes can be used favorably in the titanium dioxide (TiO2)-based photoelectrochemical dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs). In the present investigation we study the photoelectrochemical characteristics of poly(acrylonitrile) (PAN) blended with poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) quasi-solid gel polymer electrolytes (GPE) prepared by hotpressing method. A possible gel electrolyte may be made with (PAN/PEG) which comprises activated carbon, ethylene carbonate, propylene carbonate, lithium iodide, lodine, 4-tertinary butyl pyridine, 1-N-butyl-3-hexyl imidizolium iodide along with acetonitrile and tetrahydrofuran binary solvent. The ratio of PAN to PEG as well as carbon weight % are optimized based on conductivity and solar cell efficiency. Polymer gel electrolytes are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and field emision electron microscopy (FE-SEM). The conductivity of the gel electrolytes is determined by impedance studies. On the basis of the polymer gel el...