A Polymer Gel Electrolyte Based on P(MMA-NVP) for Quasi-Solid-State Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell

Abstract

A series of copolymers P(MMA-NVP) composed of methyl methacrylate (MMA) and N-vinyl pyrrolidone (NVP) were prepared by a solution copolymerization technique. The copolymer could absorb and capture amount of liquid electrolyte within its chain networks structure to form quasi-solid-state electrolyte. The influences of synthesis conditions for copolymers, such as the content of NVP, the amount of initiator 2,2’-azobisisobutyronitrile(AIBN), and the amount of crosslinking agent triethylene glycol dimethacrylate(TEGDMA) on the ionic conductivity of quasi-solid electrolyte were investigated. The highest conductivity of the copolymer gel was 2.17mS/cm at 25°C. Based on the copolymer gel electrolyte, a dye-sensitized solar cell was fabricated with short-circuit current of 12.16mA/ cm2, open circuit voltage of 619mV, fill factor of 0.4633 and an overall conversion efficiency of 3.05 % under 100 mW/cm2 irradiation (AM1.5).