Long-Term Stability Improvement of Non-Toxic Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells via Poly(ethylene oxide) Gel Electrolytes for Future Textile-Based Solar Cells.

Jan Lukas Storck,Timo Grothe,Michelle Surjawidjaja,Sonia Adabra,Bennet Brockhagen,Marius Dotter

doi:10.3390/polym12123035

Abstract

To overcome the long-term stability problems of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) due to solvent evaporation and leakage, gelling the electrolyte with polymers is an appropriate option. Especially for future applications of textile-based DSSCs, which require cost-effective and environmentally friendly materials, such an improvement of the electrolyte is necessary. Therefore, the temporal progressions of efficiencies and fill factors of non-toxic glass-based DSSCs resulting from different gel electrolytes with poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) are investigated over 52 days comparatively. Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) proved to be a suitable non-toxic solvent for the proposed gel electrolyte without ionic liquids. A PEO concentration of 17.4 wt% resulted in an optimal compromise with a relatively high efficiency over the entire period. Lower concentrations resulted in higher efficiencies during the first days but in a poorer long-term stability, whereas a higher PEO concentration resulted in an overall lower efficiency. Solvent remaining in the gel electrolyte during application was found advantageous compared to previous solvent evaporation. In contrast to a commercial liquid electrolyte, the long-term stability regarding the efficiency was improved successfully with a similar fill factor and thus equal quality.

Highlights

To provide sufficient renewable energy in the future, solar cells are suitable for harvesting one of the main energy sources available to everyone [1]
This paper investigates the applicability of common poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO)-based gel electrolytes without plasticizers and with focus on a high long-term stability for unsealed glass dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) with non-toxic materials
Figure 1), which shows the presence of anthocyanins are considered to be well suited suitednatural naturaldyes dyesfor forDSSCs

Summary

Introduction

To provide sufficient renewable energy in the future, solar cells are suitable for harvesting one of the main energy sources available to everyone [1]. Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) as third generation solar cells are a promising approach to utilize solar energy more environmentally friendly and cost-efficiently, because of the possibility to produce them from inexpensive, non-toxic materials without a cleanroom [2,3,4]. Since their discovery in 1991 [5] DSSCs are of commercial and academic interest and investigated intensively by a large number of research groups [6,7]. Options to avoid leakage and evaporation of the volatile liquid electrolyte and to improve the long-term efficiency of DSSCs are polymer-based electrolytes among others like solid-state hole-transporting materials [8]

Methods

Results

Conclusion