Combined effect of alkaline cations and organic additives for iodide ion conducting gel polymer electrolytes to enhance efficiency in dye sensitized solar cells
Artikel i vetenskaplig tidskrift, 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

Författare

T M W J Bandara

Chalmers, Fysik

Hdns Fernando

Chalmers, Fysik

Maurizio Furlani

Göteborgs universitet

Ingvar Albinsson

Göteborgs universitet

J. L. Ratnasekera

University of Colombo

L. Ajith DeSilva

University of West Georgia

MAKL Dissanayake

National Institute of Fundamental Studies

Bengt-Erik Mellander

Chalmers, Fysik, Subatomär fysik och plasmafysik

Electrochimica Acta

0013-4686 (ISSN)

Vol. 252 208-214

Drivkrafter

Hållbar utveckling

Styrkeområden

Energi

Materialvetenskap

Ämneskategorier

Fusion, plasma och rymdfysik

DOI

10.1016/j.electacta.2017.08.041

Mer information

Senast uppdaterat

2018-02-21