Quasi-solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells based on a sol-gel organic-inorganic composite electrolyte containing an organic iodide salt

An organic-inorganic composite gel electrolyte based on TiO2 gel, gamma-butyrolactone (gamma-BL) and N-methyl pyridine iodide was prepared by the sol-gel method. This get electrolyte shows high ambient ionic conductivity of 7.63 mS cm(-1), which is close to the data of liquid electrolyte with the same organic iodide salt and gamma-butyrolactone. Based on the gel electrolyte, a quasi-solid-state dye-sensitized solar cell was fabricated and the highest overall energy conversion efficiency of light-to-electricity of 3.06% was achieved under irradiation of 60 mW cm(-2). (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.