Ultrasonic irradiation to modify thePEO/P(VDF–HFP)/TiO2 nanoparticle composite polymer electrolyte for dye sensitized solar cells

Abstract

As a novel technology, ultrasonic irradiation was applied to modify thePEO/P(VDF–HFP)/TiO2 nanoparticle composite polymer electrolyte for dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Theultrasonic irradiation effectively changes the rheology and the glass transition temperature andthe crystallinity of the composite polymer. The experiments showed that 20 min moderateultrasonic irradiation resulted in better penetration of the polymer electrolyte into theTiO2 nanoporous photo-anode, and the ionic conductivity was improved to0.956 ms cm−1 comparedwith 0.386 ms cm−1 of the original polymer electrolyte. The DSSC fabricated with 20 min ultrasonic irradiationmodified polymer electrolyte exhibited an improved solar energy conversion efficiency of4.39% compared with the 3.6% of the unmodified polymer electrolyte DSSC at30.2 mW cm−2 light intensity.