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Effect of different compositions of ethylene carbonate and propylene carbonate containing iodide/triiodide redox electrolyte on the photovoltaic performance of DSSC

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Abstract

The effect of different compositions (in weight percent) of ethylene carbonate (EC) and propylene carbonate (PC) containing iodide/triiodide redox electrolyte on the photoelectrochemical performance of N719-sensitized nanocrystalline TiO2 solar cell was studied. The cells consisted of 0.6 M 1-hexyl-2,3-dimethylimidazolium iodide, 0.1 M LiI, 0.05 M I2 and 0.5 M 4-tert-butylpyridine in different compositions such as 1:1, 1:2, and 2:1 wt% of EC and PC. In 1:1 wt% of EC and PC containing redox electrolyte, short circuit photocurrent density (J sc) increased and open circuit voltage (V oc) decreased. But in 1:2 and 2:1 wt% of EC and PC containing redox electrolytes, V oc increased and J sc decreased but fill factor remained relatively constant. Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) prepared using these electrolytes give a short circuit photocurrent densities of 16.86, 12.71, and 12.09 mA/cm2; an open circuit voltages of 0.73, 0.78, and 0.79 V; fill factors of 0.63, 0.64, and 0.64; and an overall conversion efficiencies of 7.76, 6.34, and 6.13 % at an incident light of 100 mWcm−2 for 1:1, 2:1, and 1:2 wt% of EC/PC containing redox electrolytes, respectively. The incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency was higher in the case of 1:1 wt% of EC and PC containing redox electrolyte than 1:2 and 2:1 wt% of EC and PC containing redox electrolyte. It revealed that 1:1 wt% of EC and PC containing iodide/triiodide redox electrolyte is an effective electrolyte system for the fabrication of long-term stable DSSC.

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Acknowledgments

One of the authors (Dr. AS) gratefully acknowledge the CSIR, New Delhi for the financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Nanoscience and Technology, Pondicherry University, Puducherry, 605 014, India

    A. Subramania, E. Vijayakumar & N. Sivasankar

  2. Department of Chemistry, Korea University, Seoul, 136 713, South Korea

    A. R. Sathiya Priya & Kang-Jin Kim

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  1. A. Subramania
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  2. E. Vijayakumar
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  3. N. Sivasankar
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  4. A. R. Sathiya Priya
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  5. Kang-Jin Kim
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Correspondence to A. Subramania.

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Subramania, A., Vijayakumar, E., Sivasankar, N. et al. Effect of different compositions of ethylene carbonate and propylene carbonate containing iodide/triiodide redox electrolyte on the photovoltaic performance of DSSC. Ionics 19, 1649–1653 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11581-013-0892-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11581-013-0892-3

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