Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells Assembled with Composite Gel Polymer Electrolytes Containing Nanosized Al<SUB>2</SUB>O<SUB>3</SUB> Particles

Abstract

Polymeric ionic liquid, poly(1-methyl 3-(2-acryloyloxy propyl) imidazolium iodide) (PMAPII) containing iodide ions is synthesized and used as a matrix polymer for preparing the composite polymer electrolytes. The composite gel polymer electrolytes are prepared by utilizing PMAPII, organic solvent containing redox couple and aluminum oxide nanoparticle for application in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). PMAPII is highly compatible with organic solvents and thus there is no phase separation between the PMAPII and organic solvents. This makes it be possible to directly solidify the liquid electrolyte in the cell and maintain good interfacial contacts between the electrolyte and electrodes. The addition of 10 wt.% Al2O3 nanoparticle to gel polymer electrolyte provides the most desirable environment for ionic transport, resulting in the improvement of the photovoltaic performance of DSSC. The quasi-solid-state DSSC assembled with optimized composite gel polymer electrolyte containing 10 wt.% Al2O3 nanoparticle exhibits a relatively high conversion efficiency of 6.51% under AM 1.5 illumination at 100 mA cm(-2) and better stability than DSSC with liquid electrolyte.

Improved electrochemical and photovoltaic performance of dye sensitized solar cells based on PEO/PVDF–HFP/silane modified TiO2electrolytes and MWCNT/Nafion®counter electrode

“…25 Hence, photocurrent and efficiency will be enhanced. Recently, comparative studies of TiO 2 and SiO 2 within the polymer electrolyte have been reported by Tiautit et al It is reported that the charge transfer resistance and diffusion resistance of TiO 2 incorporated electrolyte is very lesser than SiO 2 .…”

Solid state metal-free eosin-Y dye sensitized solar cell based on PVdF-HFP electrolytes: combined effect of surface modified TiO2 and plasticizer on electrochemical and photovoltaic properties

“…have been used as fillers in electrolytes for dye-sensitized solar cell applications [27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38]. Among them, TiO 2 nanoparticles are considered as one of the most promising fillers because of their availability in nature, UV resistance, photocatalytic activity for pollutant removal, photoelectrochemical conversion, and anti-bacterium properties and polymorph crystalline structures like anatase, brookite, and rutile [39,40].…”

Review on the Revolution of Polymer Electrolytes for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

“…Besides, modified SiO 2 nanoparticles have resulted in good solvency for inorganic salt to better dissolve within the polymer electrolytes. Other work by Jeon and Kim added aluminum oxide (Al 2 O 3 ) in a synthesized polymeric ionic liquid, poly­(1-methyl 3-(2-(acryloyloxy)­propyl)­imidazoliumiodide) (PMAPII), improve the electrolytic characteristics. The reported results revealed that the DSSC-based composite gel polymer electrolytes containing 10 wt % Al 2 O 3 nanoparticles exhibited a relatively high conversion efficiency of 6.51% at 100 mW cm –2 and better stability.…”