Ionic liquid-tethered nanoparticle/poly(ionic liquid) electrolytes for quasi-solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells

Ionic liquid-tethered TiO2 nanoparticles are prepared by tethering 1-methyl-3-[(triethoxysilyl)propyl]imidazolium chloride (TMICl) to TiO2 nanoparticles. The quasi-solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells containing 15 wt% of ionic liquid-tethered nanoparticle/poly(ionic liquid) hybrid electrolytes show an overall power conversion efficiency of similar to 5.67% under simulated AM 1.5 solar spectrum irradiation at 50 mW cm(-2). Compared with unmodified TiO2 nanoparticles, ionic liquid-tethered nanoparticle based hybrid gel electrolytes show enhanced short circuit current density (J(sc)), open circuit voltage (V-oc), photoelectric conversion efficiency (eta), and better long-term stability of the devices. These results indicate that the cells based on ionic liquid-tethered nanoparticle hybrid electrolytes could overcome the drawbacks of volatile liquid electrolytes, and offer a feasible method to fabricate quasi-solid-state DSSCs in future practical applications. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.