Preparation of PAA-g-PEG/PANI polymer gel electrolyte and its application in quasi solid state dye-sensitized solar cells

Abstract

A microporous hybrid polymer of poly(acrylic acid)-g-poly(ethylene glycol)/polyaniline (PAA-g-PEG/PANI) is synthesized by a two-step solution polymerization method. The influence of aniline concentration on the conductivity of PAA-g-PEG/PANI gel electrolyte is discussed, when the concentration of aniline is 0.66 wt%, the conductivity of PAA-g-PEG/PANI gel electrolyte is 11.50 mS cm−1. Using this gel electrolyte as host, a quasi solid state dye-sensitized solar cell (QS-DSSC) is assembled. The QS-DSSC based on this gel electrolyte achieves a power conversion efficiency of 6.38% under a simulated solar illumination of 100 mW cm−2 (AM 1.5). POLYM. ENG. SCI., 55:322–326, 2015. © 2014 Society of Plastics Engineers