Absorbency and conductivity of quasi-solid-state polymer electrolytes for dye-sensitized solar cells: A characterization review

The application of quasi-solid state electrolytes for dye-sensitized solar cells opens up an interesting research field to explore, which is evident from the increasing amount of publications on this topic. Since 2010, significant progress has been made with new and more complicated quasi-solid-states materials being produced. The optimization of new materials requires specific characterizations. This review presents a comprehensive overview and recent progress of characterization methods for studying quasi solid-state electrolytes. Emphasis is then placed on the absorbency and conductivity characterizations. Each characterization will be reviewed according to the objective, experimental set-up, summary of important outcomes, and a few case studies worth discussing. Finally, strategies for future characterizations and developments are described. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.