Synthesis of gel polymer electrolyte with PEO/RbI/I2 for DSSC applications

Abstract

Gel polymer electrolytes (GPEs) are prepared by PEO blended with rubidium iodide (RbI)/I2 for DSSC applications. GPEs are optimized by adding of acetamide at different weight % (0%, 5%, 10%, 20%) in poly (ethylene oxide) (PEO) and poly (ethylene glycol) dimethyl ether (PEGDME). The power conversion efficiency of Cell-B (B-0 PPRI) exhibits best performance with η = 5.03%, Jsc = 11.35 mA/cm2, Voc = 0.79 V, and Fill Factor (FF) = 0.55. This indicates that the GPE with PEO/PEGDME/0% acetamide is containing better potentiality than the other electrolytes and is reflected in the improved DSSC performance. The Voc increases from 0.79 V to 0.84 V because of the reduction of the charge recombination process on the interface of TiO2/dye/electrolyte. The lowest photocurrent conversion efficiency of 3.44% is attributed to E-20 PPARI. This is due to the poor soluble of RbI in the polymer matrix and the unfavorable interaction between RbI and acetamide. So that the influence of acetamide on the gel polymer electrolyte very less, which reflect on the photovoltaic efficiency of DSSCs. The GPE with 0% of acetamide (B-0 PPRI) exhibits high ionic conductivity of 8.85 × 10−4 s/cm. The Nyquist plot shows that the charge transfer rate control the impedance for gel polymer electrolytes. For B-0 PPRI, the series resistance (RS) is of 42.37 Ω small compared to other electrolytes, which is reflected in its open circuit voltage and efficiency. The simulated charge transfer resistances RCT1 and RCT2 of B-0 PPRI (0 wt% acetamide) are 115.1 Ω and 425.1 Ω respectively. The electron lifetime is more for B-0 PPRI which is τ = 4.88 ms from Bode phase plots.