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Dye-sensitized solar cell using 4-chloro-7-nitrobenzofurazan incorporated polyvinyl alcohol polymer electrolyte

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Abstract

The influence of 4-chloro-7-nitrobenzofurazan (CNBF) on ionic conductivity of polyvinyl alcohol/KI/I2 (PVA/KI/I2) electrolytes was investigated in the present study. The pure and CNBF incorporated PVA/KI/I2 electrolyte films were prepared by solution casting method using dimethyl sulfoxide as a solvent. These polymer electrolyte films were characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffractometer, UV–Vis spectrophotometer and impedance analysis. The ionic conductivities of polymer electrolyte films were calculated from impedance analysis. The pure PVA/KI/I2 electrolyte exhibited the ionic conductivity of 1.649 × 10−5 S cm−1 at room temperature and this value was significantly increased to 1.490 × 10−4 S cm−1 when CNBF was incorporated into the PVA/KI/I2 electrolyte. This might be due to the decrease in the crystallinity of the polymer and increase in the ionic mobility of charge carriers. The performance of the DSSCs using both pure and CNBF incorporated PVA/KI/I2 electrolytes were compared. A DSSC fabricated with CNBF incorporated PVA/KI/I2 electrolyte showed an improved power conversion efficiency of 3.89 % than that of the pure PVA/KI/I electrolyte (1.51 %). These results suggest that CNBF incorporated PVA/KI/I2 electrolyte could be used as a potential electrolyte for DSSC.

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support received from Department of Science and Technology-Science and Engineering Research Board (DST-SERB), New Delhi (sanction order No. SR/FT/CS-142/2011).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Solar Energy Lab, Department of Chemistry, Thiruvalluvar University, Vellore, 632 115, India

    R. A. Senthil, J. Theerthagiri & J. Madhavan

  2. Department of Physics, Centre for Ionics University Malaya, University of Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

    A. K. Arof

Authors
  1. R. A. Senthil
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  2. J. Theerthagiri
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  3. J. Madhavan
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  4. A. K. Arof
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Correspondence to J. Madhavan.

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Senthil, R.A., Theerthagiri, J., Madhavan, J. et al. Dye-sensitized solar cell using 4-chloro-7-nitrobenzofurazan incorporated polyvinyl alcohol polymer electrolyte. Indian J Phys 90, 1265–1270 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12648-016-0869-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12648-016-0869-y

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