Multi-layers of TiO 2 nanoparticles in the photoelectrode and binary iodides in the gel polymer electrolyte based on pol
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Multi-layers of TiO2 nanoparticles in the photoelectrode and binary iodides in the gel polymer electrolyte based on poly(ethylene oxide) to improve quasi solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells G. B. M. M. M. Nishshanke 1 & B. D. K. K. Thilakarathna 1 & I. Albinsson 2 & B.-E. Mellander 3 & T. M. W. J. Bandara 1 Received: 19 August 2020 / Revised: 14 October 2020 / Accepted: 14 October 2020 # Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract A gel electrolyte based on poly(ethylene oxide) is optimized in order to improve dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) by varying the contents of a binary mixture of salts, LiI, and Hex4NI (tetrahexylammonium iodide). Two series of electrolytes, one excluding and the other including 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium iodide (BMII) and 4-tert-butylpyridine (4TBP), are investigated. The added BMII and 4TBP improve the conductivity in electrolytes. The highest conductivities at all the measured temperatures are shown by the electrolyte which includes BMII and 4TBP along with the Hex4NI:LiI molar ratio of 3:2. This composition in gel polymer electrolyte exhibits relatively high ionic conductivities, 4.44 × 10−3 and 6.93 × 10−3 S cm−1 at 25 and 50 °C, respectively. Quadruple-layered and highly porous nanocrystalline photoelectrodes that are prepared by spin coating TiO2 nanoparticles of the size 13 and 21 nm were used for the DSC preparation. DSCs that are assembled with BMII and 4TBP added electrolytes exhibit higher efficiencies. The DSC fabricated using the electrolyte having performance enhancers along with Hex4NI:LiI molar ratio of 2:3 and the photoelectrode having quadruple layers of TiO2 nanoparticles exhibit the highest shortcircuit current density (11.1 mA cm−2), open-circuit voltage (770 mV), and efficiency (5.58%). The stability of the DSC performances is monitored by measuring current-voltage as a function of time. The cell optimized in this study exhibits a good short-term stability. The positive effects of TiO2 nanoparticle multilayers in the photoelectrodes, as well as of binary salt and performance enhancers in the electrolyte, are successfully utilized to enhance the performance of DSCs. Keywords Poly(ethylene oxide) . Gel electrolytes . Binary iodide system . Dye-sensitized solar cells . TiO2 multilayer
Introduction Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) attract great attention as an alternative to commercially available high-cost photovoltaic devices based on p-n junctions [1–3]. DSCs are lower in cost along with easy fabrication methods. And they have achieved Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s10008-020-04846-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * T. M. W. J. Bandara [email protected] 1
Department of Physics and Postgraduate Institute of Science, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka
2
Department of Physics, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
3
Department of Physics, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden
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