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Investigation on gel polymer electrolyte-based dye-sensitized solar cells using carbon nanotube

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Abstract

A new poly (acrylonitrile) (PAN)-based gel polymer electrolyte (GPE) is fabricated to study the effect of carbon nanotube (CNT) on dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) efficiency. The GPEs are examined using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) to analyze ionic conductivity. A maximum of 4.45 mS cm−1 ionic conductivity is achieved at room temperature with incorporation of 11 wt.% CNT. Performance of DSSC is examined with a solar simulator, and the highest energy conversion efficiency of 8.87% is achieved with the addition of 11 wt.% CNT. All GPE samples are found to follow Arrhenius model with temperature-dependent ionic conductivity testing. Structural properties are also characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy.

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Funding

This work was supported by UMRG Grant RG382-17AFR and Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FP012-2015A) from Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia.

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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

    Somia Mohammed Sakali, M. H. Khanmirzaei, S. C. Lu, S. Ramesh & K. Ramesh

  2. Department of Physics, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, 14588, Iran

    M. H. Khanmirzaei

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  1. Somia Mohammed Sakali
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  2. M. H. Khanmirzaei
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  3. S. C. Lu
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  4. S. Ramesh
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  5. K. Ramesh
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Correspondence to K. Ramesh.

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Sakali, S.M., Khanmirzaei, M.H., Lu, S.C. et al. Investigation on gel polymer electrolyte-based dye-sensitized solar cells using carbon nanotube. Ionics 25, 319–325 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11581-018-2598-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11581-018-2598-z

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