Sung‐Ryong Kim, Md. Khaled Parvez, I. In
Nov 1, 2009
Citations
1
Influential Citations
23
Citations
Journal
Electrochimica Acta
Abstract
Abstract Polyethylene glycol (PEG) and trimethylolpropane triacrylate (TMPTA) were used as photo-crosslinkable polymer electrolytes for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). PEG and trifunctional TMPTA formed a crosslinked structure upon light illumination, as confirmed by the solubility test and FTIR spectroscopy. In order to make close contact with the TiO 2 porous film, the polymeric electrolyte was prepared by photo-polymerization after injecting the monomer electrolyte solution into the porous film. The cross-sectional FE-SEM images showed the penetration of the electrolyte into the porous TiO 2 layer. Under AM 1.5 (100 mW/cm 2 ) light irradiation for up to 30 min, a maximum 21% increase in the photo-conversion efficiency ( η %) was observed. The electrolyte containing PEG and 20 wt% TMPTA showed a maximum increase in the photo-conversion efficiency from 2.75% to 3.35% with 30 min of light illumination. Also, the DSSCs with the novel crosslinkable PEG/TMPTA based polymer electrolyte showed improved long-term stability in comparison to those with electrolytes containing only PEG.