Combined effect of alkaline cations and organic additives for iodide ion conducting gel polymer electrolytes to enhance efficiency in dye sensitized solar cells
Journal article, 2017

Iodide ion conducting electrolytes are intensively studied as effectual electrolytes for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). However, the nature and concentration of the counter-ion (cation) in the electrolyte exert a profound influence on the performance of the thin film meso-porous TiO2 based DSSCs. A series of gel electrolytes containing the alkaline iodides LiI, NaI, KI, RbI and CsI and polyacrylonitrile (PAN) were fabricated together with the non-volatile plasticizers ethylene carbonate (EC) and propylene carbonate (PC). A similar series was fabricated with the inclusions of performance enhancers (additives) tetrapropylammonium iodide (Pr4NI), the ionic liquid 1-methyl-3-propyl imidazolium iodide (MPII) and 4-tert-butylpyridine (4TBP). The ionic conductivity of the electrolytes was studied in order to investigate its dependence on the nature of the alkaline cation in presence or absence of additives. The conductivities were higher for the electrolytes with the larger cations, namely K+, Rb+ and Cs+. A significant conductivity enhancement was observed in presence of the additives, and this effect was especially noticeable for samples with the smaller cations. The highest conductivity for electrolytes with additives, 3.96 mS cm?1 at 25 °C, is exhibited by KI containing samples.

FT-IR

Efficiency enhancers

Gel electrolytes

Alkaline cations

Author

T M W J Bandara

Chalmers, Physics

Hdns Fernando

Chalmers, Physics

Maurizio Furlani

University of Gothenburg

Ingvar Albinsson

University of Gothenburg

J. L. Ratnasekera

University of Colombo

L. Ajith DeSilva

University of West Georgia

MAKL Dissanayake

National Institute of Fundamental Studies

Bengt-Erik Mellander

Chalmers, Physics, Subatomic and Plasma Physics

Electrochimica Acta

0013-4686 (ISSN)

Vol. 252 208-214

Driving Forces

Sustainable development

Areas of Advance

Energy

Materials Science

Subject Categories

Fusion, Plasma and Space Physics

DOI

10.1016/j.electacta.2017.08.041

More information

Latest update

2/21/2018