Organosoluble Starch-Cellulose Binary Polymer Blend as a Quasi-Solid Electrolyte in a Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell.

Vidhya Selvanathan,Hatem Sindi,Nowshad Amin,Muhyaddin Rawa,Majid Nour,Mohd Hafidz Ruslan,Md Akhtaruzzaman,Kamaruzzaman Sopian,Rosiyah Yahya

doi:10.3390/polym12030516

Abstract

This work is a pioneer attempt to fabricate quasi-solid dye-sensitized solar cell (QSDDSC) based on organosoluble starch derivative. Rheological characterizations of the PhSt-HEC blend based gels exhibited viscoelastic properties favorable for electrolyte fabrication. From amplitude sweep and tack test analyses, it was evident that the inclusion of LiI improved the rigidity and tack property of the gels. On the other hand, the opposite was true for TPAI based gels, which resulted in less rigid and tacky electrolytes. The crystallinity of the gels was found to decline with increasing amount of salt in both systems. The highest photoconversion efficiency of 3.94% was recorded upon addition of 12.5 wt % TPAI and this value is one of the highest DSSC performance recorded for starch based electrolytes. From electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), it is deduced that the steric hindrance imposed by bulky cations aids in hindering recombination between photoanode and electrolyte.

Highlights

IntroductionDye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) is a third generation photovoltaic device, developed first by
Dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) is a third generation photovoltaic device, developed first byO’Regan and Gratzel in 1991
The amplitude sweep curves for PhSt-HEC-DMF gels with different amount of LiI and tetrapropylammonium iodide (TPAI) are attached in Figures S1 and S2

Summary

Introduction

Dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) is a third generation photovoltaic device, developed first by. The conceptualization of DSSC draws inspiration from photosynthesis in which chlorophyll only plays a role in light harvesting but does not participate in charge transfer [1]. In DSSC, charge generation takes place at a semiconductor-dye interface while charge transport is performed by the semiconductor and electrolyte. As it is the case in any electrochemical device, electrolytes are one of the essential components in DSSC. Being mainly responsible for the internal charge transport between the electrodes in order to continually replenish the dye, electrolytes can directly influence the photovoltaic parameters.

Methods

Results

Conclusion