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Improved ionic conductivity and efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells with the incorporation of 1-methyl-3-propylimidazolium iodide

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Abstract

1-Methyl-3-propylimidazolium iodide (MPII) ionic liquid incorporated gel polymer electrolyte (GPE) has successfully enhanced the efficiency of a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC). A series of gel polymer electrolytes containing different amounts of MPII were prepared and characterized. A maximum ionic conductivity of 3.99 mS cm−1 was obtained in a GPE containing 10 wt% MPII, which was accompanied by the lowest activation energy. The results from dielectric studies showed typical behaviour for both ɛ’ and ɛ” in which their values decreased with increasing frequency but increased proportionately with temperature. From the results of FESEM, the morphologies of the GPE became slightly rougher after the addition of MPII. Dye-sensitized solar cells were fabricated and characterized using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and photovoltaic studies. DSSC with the best performance (4.35% of efficiency, 9.97 mA cm−2 of JSC, 0.67 V of VOC, and 65.39% of fill factor) was assembled using the GPE with 10 wt% of MPII.

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Funding

This research is funded by University of Malaya Research Grant (RG382-17AFR) and Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS) from the Ministry of Education, Malaysia (FP062-2018A). S.R. gratefully acknowledges the Institute of Advance Studies at Durham University for the award of a Durham International Fellowship for Research and Enterprise (DIFeREns2) Senior Research Fellowship, a project of the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme, to carry out part of this collaborative work in the United Kingdom. M.M.A. acknowledges the King Khalid Military Academy for funding his sabbatical at Durham University to engage in this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Ionics University of Malaya, Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, University of Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

    Chee Yu Tan, Norshahirah M. Saidi, N.K. Farhana, Fatin Saiha Omar, Shahid Bashir, S. Ramesh & K. Ramesh

  2. King Khalid Military Academy, Riyadh, 11495, Saudi Arabia

    Mohammed M. Algaradah

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  1. Chee Yu Tan
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Tan, C.Y., Saidi, N.M., Farhana, N. et al. Improved ionic conductivity and efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells with the incorporation of 1-methyl-3-propylimidazolium iodide. Ionics 26, 3173–3183 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11581-020-03447-2

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