A. Arof, M. Aziz, M. Noor
Feb 14, 2014
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Journal
International Journal of Hydrogen Energy
Abstract
abstract This paper reports the effect of using a mixed iodide salt system with two dissimilar cat-ions to enhance the efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells made with polyvinylidene-fluoride (PVdF) based gel electrolyte. Instead of a single iodide salt, a mixture of potassiumiodide (KI) with a small K þ cation and tetrapropylammonium iodide (Pr 4 NI) with a bulkyPr 4 N þ cation were used to provide the required iodide ion conductivity. Solar cells ofconfiguration FTO/TiO 2 /Dye/electrolyte/Pt/FTO were fabricated using a mesoporous TiO 2 electrode sensitized with a Ruthenium dye (N719). With identical electrolyte compositions,the cells with KI and Pr 4 NI alone gave efficiencies of 2.37% and 2.90% respectively. The cellwith the mixed iodide system, KI:Pr 4 NI ¼ 16.6:83.4 (% weight ratio), however, showed anenhanced efficiency of 3.92% with a short circuit current density of 9.16 mA cm 2 , opencircuit voltage of 674.4 mV and a fill factor of 63.4%.Copyright a 2013, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rightsreserved.