Abstract:
Dye sensitized solar cells (DSSC) are considered as most promising
molecular phot ovoltaics and cheaper alternative to the conventional silicon
based solar cells due to lower fabrication cost and abundance of materials.
However, liquid electrolytes employed in most of the DSSC have several
disadvantages such as lack of long term stabili ty due to liquid leakage,
electrode corrosion and photo decomposition of the medium. Quasi solid
state (gel) electrolytes based on various polymers and gelators, can be used
to overcome these drawbacks. In this study, it was used a gel electrolyte
consisti ng of ethylene carbonate (EC), propylene carbonate (PC), poly
(vinylidene fluoride hexafluoropropylne) (PVdF HFP) nanofiber, fumed
silica, potassium iodide (KI), tetra propyl ammonium iodide (Pr 4 NI), PMII
ionic liquid, and 4 tert Butylpyridine (TBP) in DSS Cs. Nano fiber and
fumed silica provide the structural stability for the gel electrolyte which
entraps the liquid electrolyte and provides a higher efficiency in DSSCs
compared to the conventional gel electrolyte based DSSCs. A short circuit
photocurrent d ensity of 13.8 mA cm 2 , an open circuit voltage of 699.2 mV,
a fill factor of 66.9%, and an overall efficiency of 6.46% were observed
under simulated sunlight of 100 mW cm 2 on a fabricated dye sensitized
solar cell in configuration of FTO/TiO 2 electrode/ Ruthenium dye (N719)/
PVdF HFP and fumed silica nanocomposite electrolyte/ Pt/ FTO.
