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This research focused on an electrical improvement of polymer nanocomposite which had potential for application in dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). This composite polymer electrolyte can be prepared by admicellar polymerization to form a core-shell structure. The shell was prepared by acrylic acid (AA) monomer copolymerization with modified silica from trimethoxysilyl propyl methacrylate monomer (MPS) and hydrophilic silica (R200) (MPS-SiO 2 ) and then coated on natural rubber (NR) as a core (PAA-adp-NR co MPS-SiO 2 ). At 1.5 wt% MPS-SiO 2 , the ionic conductivity of PAA-adp-NR co MPS-SiO 2 was improved from 0.769 mS cm 21 of PAA-adp-NR to 0.931 mS cm 21 , and showed the lowest charge transfer resistance (R ct ) at 2.065 ohm. Moreover, the current density (J sc ) and conversion efficiency (g) were 11.792 mA/cm 2 and 3.485%, respectively. In the case of thermal stress stability, J sc of PAA-adp-NR co MPS-SiO 2 (1.5 wt% MPS-SiO 2 ) was better than PAA-adp-NR. J sc of PAA-adp-NR decreased 40.58% from its original value while J sc of PAA-adp-NR co MPS-SiO 2 (1.5 wt% MPS-SiO 2 ) decreased 35.71% from its original value at 4 days with a slower rate than PAA-adp-NR. g of PAA-adp-NR co MPS-SiO 2 (1.5 wt% MPS-SiO 2 ) remained 6.67% of its original value at 28 days while g values of liquid electrolytes and PAA-adp-NR were close to zero. POLYM. COMPOS., 00:000-000, 2017.NR were close to zero. POLYM. COMPOS., 40:304-314, 2019.

No abstract

The dye sensitized solar cell (DSSC) is devices for converting solar energy to electricity. The gel polymer electrolyte is the main component in the cell. It is used for complexation with liquid electrolyte to generate iodide ions and support the ion transportation. The gel polymer electrolyte of poly(3-(trimethoxysilyl) propyl methacrylate) (PMPS) coat on the surfaces of natural rubber (NR) particles (PMPS-g-NR) was prepared by surface grafting emulsion polymerization method using the redox couple initiator, tetraethylenepentamine (TEPA) and cumenehydroperoxide (CHP). Then, this gel was treated by ozone at different treatment time (5 min, 10 min, 20 min, 25 min, and 30 min) and voltage of ozonolysis (0.7 kV, 1.5 kV, 2.4 kV, and 3.2 kV) on PMPS-g-NR (ozonolysed PMPS-g-NR) to obtain the optimum condition for generating the active species e.g. carbonyl or aldehyde structures. The synthesized materials were characterized by the degree of swelling (%DS), ionic conductivity, and solar cell efficiency, having red cabbage as dye sensitizer. By ozonolysis on PMPS-g-NR, the treatment condition of voltage at 3.2 kV and treatment time at 30 min showed the maximum %DS of 74.2, which is higher than that of PMPS-g-NR without ozonolysis of 65.5. The maximum ion conductivity of PMPS-g-NR and ozonolysed PMPS-g-NR at 2.4 kV and 20 min were 0.240 mS/cm and 0.775 mS/cm, respectively while their maximum solar cell efficiency was 6.738 m% and 10.340 m%, respectively.

Gel polymer electrolyte for dye sensitized solar cell application was synthesized from the hydrophilic polyacrylamide (PAM) grafted on natural rubber (NR) particles as flexible substrates at different monomer concentrations (40, 60, and 80% wt) in order to improve ionic conductivity. The seed emulsion polymerization of polyacrylamide on the surfaces of NR particles was carried out to obtain the core-shell structure using the redox couple initiator, tetraethylene pentamine (TEPA) and cumene hydroperoxide (CHP). Moreover, pyrrole monomer was polymerized on the modified rubbers via chemical oxidative polymerization by using iodine as a dopant and initiator. The synthesized materials were characterized by FTIR, grafting efficiency (% GE), degree of swelling (% DS) and ion conductivity.