Balance between the physical diffusion and the exchange reaction on binary ionic liquid electrolyte for dye-sensitized solar cells

Abstract

A comprehensive characterizations of viscosities, conductivities, triiodide diffusion coefficients, charge-transfer resistances and photovoltaic performance of a potential dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC) electrolyte systems based on binary ionic liquid (IL) mixtures, namely, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium dicyanamide (EMIDCA)/1-methyl-3-propylimidazolium iodide (PMII) with a fixed iodine concentration at varying EMIDCA volume fraction are investigated in the present study. Viscosity and conductivity values are accurately correlated with regard to temperature and EMIDCA volume fraction. The triiodide diffusion coefficients, the predominant electrolyte parameter for limitation of DSC efficiency, are determined by symmetrical cell methods. The physical diffusion and exchange reactions between the iodide and triiodide dominate the apparent triiodide diffusion coefficients at different range of EMIDCA volume fraction. A balance between the viscosity-dependent physical diffusion and the exchange reactions can get at an optimal volume percents of EMIDCA. Impedance spectroscopy and photovoltaic results both support the existence of an optimized binary IL electrolyte composition. Hence, for optimizing an IL-based electrolyte in regards to triiodide transport, a low viscosity is not the exclusive crucial factor since exchange reactions transport effects also play an important role to resolve the diffusion limitation of DSC efficiency.