A New Type of Electrolyte with a Light-Trapping Scheme for High-Efficiency Quasi-Solid-State Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

The nematic liquid crystal, 4-cyano-4'-n-heptyloxybiphenyl, is not only used to solidify a liquid electrolyte but also as a light-trapping material for quasi-solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The existence of a light-trapping scheme in a quasi-solid-state electrolyte would increase the optical path length of the incident light and consequently the light-harvesting efficiency, which benefits IPCE and the photocurrent of the DSSC.