Effect of 1‐butyl‐3‐methylimidazolium iodide containing electrospun poly(vinylidene fluoride‐co‐hexafluoropropylene) membrane electrolyte on the photovoltaic performance of dye‐sensitized solar cells

Abstract

Electrospun poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVdF-HFP) membrane was prepared from a solution of 16 wt % of PVdF-HFP containing acetone/N,N-dimethyl acetamide (7:3 wt %). The prepared electrospun PVdF-HFP membrane (esPM) was then soaked in ionic liquid electrolyte containing 0.5M LiI, 0.05M I 2 , and 0.5M 4-tert butylpyridine, 0.5M 1-butyl-3methylimidazolium iodide (BMImI) in acetonitrile to get electrospun PVdF-HFP membrane electrolyte (esPME). The effect of various concentrations of BMImI containing esPME on ionic conductivity was studied by AC-impedance measurements and the I 2 =I 2 3 diffusion co-efficients was determined by linear sweep voltammetry. The photovoltaic performance of a DSSC fabricated using 0.5M BMImI containing electrospun PVdF-HFP membrane electrolyte (0.5M BMImI-esPME) has power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 6.42%. But the stability of the DSSC fabricated using 0.5M BMImI-esPME was considerably superior to that fabricated using 0.5M BMImI containing liquid electrolyte (0.5M BMImI-LE).

Electrospinning of Nanofibers for Energy Applications

“…The PVDF-HFP NFs prepared from a 15 wt % spinning solution showed high ionic conductivity (1.295 S/cm) and electrolyte uptake (947%). Dyson et al [209] soaked electrospun PVdF-HFP membrane (es-PM) in the ionic liquid electrolyte containing 0.5 M 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium iodide (BMImI), 0.5 M LiI, 0.05 M I 2 and 0.5 M 4-tert-butylpyribine to obtain the electrospun PVdF-HFP membrane electrolyte (esPME). The 0.5 M BMImI-esPME exhibited better performance than 0.5 M BMImI containing liquid electrolyte (LE), as shown in Figure 8.…”

Stable dye-sensitized solar cells based on a gel electrolyte with ethyl cellulose as the gelator

“…Polymers, such as poly(ethylene glycol) [9], poly(methyl methacrylate) [12], poly(vinylidene fluorideco-hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP) [13][14][15], polystyrene [16] polyacrylonitrile [17,18] and polyethylene oxide [19], have been used as additives for the solidification of liquid electrolytes. Among these polymers, PVDF-HFP results in high-performance, highly stable cells in light-soaking tests.…”

Effect of CuBr2salt treatment on the performance of nanocolloidal PPy:PSS multilayer thin film counter electrodes of dye‐sensitized solar cells

“…It acts as a mediator in regenerating the sensitizer after electron injection and serves to transfer electrons from the external circuit back to the redox electrolyte. 6 Typically, plati-num (Pt) is employed as a CE because of its excellent electrocatalytic ability, chemical stability, and electrical conductivity. 7,8 However, Pt is a rather expensive metal, and platinum iodides such as PtI 4 or H 2 PtI 6 will be generated when Pt is dissolved in solutions containing triiodide, which may affect the performance of DSCs.…”