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The effects of polymer gel electrolyte composition on performance of quasi-solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells

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Abstract

Polymer gel electrolytes based on poly(acrylic acid)-poly(ethylene glycol) (PAA–PEG) hybrid have been prepared and applied to developed quasi-solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs). PAA–PEG hybrid was synthesized by polymerization reaction. Quasi-solid-state DSCs were fabricated with synthesized PAA–PEG electrolyte. The effects of alkali iodides LiI, KI, and I2 concentrations on liquid electrolyte absorbency and ionic conductivity of PAA–PEG were investigated. The evolution of the solar cell parameters with polymer gel electrolyte compositions was revealed. DSCs based on PAA–PEG with optimized KI/I2 concentrations showed better performances than those with optimized LiI/I2 concentrations. The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy technique was employed to examine the electron lifetime in the TiO2 electrode and quantify charge transfer resistances at the TiO2/dye/electrolyte interface and the counter electrode in the solar cells based on the PAA–PEG hybrid gels. A maximum conversion efficiency of 4.96% was obtained for DSCs using KI based quasi-solid electrolyte under 100 mW cm−2. Our work suggests that KI can be the promising alkali metal iodide for improving the performance of PAA–PEG hybrid gel DSCs.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 10774046), Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Committee (No.09JC1404600, No.0852 nm06100 and No.08230705400) and Singapore Ministry of Education innovation fund (MOE IF Funding MOE2008-IF-1-016).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Engineering Research Center for Nanophotonics and Advanced Instrument, Ministry of Education, Department of Physics, East China Normal University, North Zhongshan Rd. 3663, Shanghai, 200062, People’s Republic of China

    Xiaodong Li, Dingwen Zhang, Si Chen, Jianhua Shi, Zhuo Sun & Sumei Huang

  2. Advanced Materials Technology Centre, Office of the Chief Technology Officer, Singapore Polytechnic, 500 Dover Rd., Singapore, Singapore, 139651

    Xiaodong Li & Xi Jiang Yin

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  1. Xiaodong Li
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  2. Dingwen Zhang
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  3. Xi Jiang Yin
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  4. Si Chen
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  5. Jianhua Shi
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  6. Zhuo Sun
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  7. Sumei Huang
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Correspondence to Sumei Huang.

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Li, X., Zhang, D., Yin, X.J. et al. The effects of polymer gel electrolyte composition on performance of quasi-solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells. J Solid State Electrochem 15, 1271–1277 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10008-010-1201-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10008-010-1201-y

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