Characterization of poly (vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVdF-HFP) nanofiber membrane based quasi solid electrolytes and their application in a dye sensitized solar cell
Artikel i vetenskaplig tidskrift, 2018

The electrolyte plays a major role in dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). In this work a quasi-solid state (gel) electrolyte has been formed by incorporating a liquid electrolyte made with KI dissolved in ethylene carbonate (EC) and propylene carbonate (PC) co-solvent in poly (vinylidene fluoride-hexafluoropropylene) (PVdF-HFP) co-polymer nanofiber membrane prepared by electrospinning. SEM images of the electrolyte membrane showed the formation of a three-dimensional network of polymer nanofibers with diameters between 100 and 300 nm and an average membrane thickness of 14 μm. The electrolyte was characterized by FTIR and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) measurements. The DSSCs fabricated with this electrolyte were characterized by current-voltage and Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) measurements. DSC thermograms revealed that the crystallinity of the PVdF-HFP nanofiber is 14% lower than that of the pure PVdF-HFP polymer while the FTIR spectra showed a reduced polymer-polymer interaction in the nano fiber based gel electrolyte. The DSSCs fabricated with nanofiber based gel electrolyte showed an energy conversion efficiency of 5.36% under 1.5 a.m. solar irradiation, whereas the efficiency of the DSSC made with the liquid electrolyte based cell was 6.01%. This shows the possibility of replacing the liquid electrolyte in DSSCs by electro-spun polymer nanofiber based gel electrolyte and thereby minimizing some major drawbacks associated with liquid electrolyte based solar cells while maintaining a reasonably high efficiency.

Dye sensitized solar cells

Nanofiber

Gel polymer electrolyte

PVdF-HFP co-polymer

FTIR spectroscopy

Författare

T M W J Bandara

University of Peradeniya

Chalmers, Fysik

Göteborgs universitet

A. M.J.S. Weerasinghe

University of Peradeniya

National Institute of Fundamental Studies

M. A. K. L. Dissanayake

University of Peradeniya

National Institute of Fundamental Studies

G. K. R. Senadeera

National Institute of Fundamental Studies

Open University of Sri Lanka

Maurizio Furlani

Chalmers, Fysik, Fasta tillståndets fysik

Göteborgs universitet

Ingvar Albinsson

Chalmers, Fysik

Göteborgs universitet

Bengt-Erik Mellander

Chalmers, Fysik, Subatomär fysik och plasmafysik

Electrochimica Acta

0013-4686 (ISSN)

Vol. 266 276-283

Ämneskategorier

Polymerkemi

Materialkemi

Annan kemi

DOI

10.1016/j.electacta.2018.02.025

Mer information

Senast uppdaterat

2018-02-27