Quasi-solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells with a high molecular gel polymer electrolyte based on PEO/P(VDF-HFP)

Quasi-solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells were fabricated using a high molecular polymer redox electrolyte. Poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) and Poly(vinylidenefluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (P(VDF-HFP)) were used to form a stable quasi-solid structure and a three-dimensional gel polymer network structure. The polymer electrolytes were composed of LiI, I₂, and DMPII in the mixture of propylene carbonate (PC) and γ-butyrolactone (GBL) with different volume ratios. A metal-free organic dye (indoline dye D102) was used as a sensitizer. The ionic conductivity of the gel polymer electrolytes was measured with Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS). The dependence of the ionic conductivity on the volume ratio of PC to GBL was investigated. The volume ratio of the mix solvent, weight ratio of PEO/P(VDF-HFP), and the weight ratio of TiO₂ fillers were optimized. The optimized quasi-solid-state cell exhibited an efficiency of 5.49% at full sunlight (air mass 1.5, 60 mW/cm²) irradiation.