Plasticized I2-free polysiloxane ionic conductors as electrolytes for stable and flexible solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells

For practical applications, flexible solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells (ss-DSSCs) with high photovoltaic performance and stability are paramount. A novel iodine (I-2)-free polysiloxane based highly conductive poly(ionic liquid), which acts as the lone charge transfer intermediate, is used for the first time as an electrolyte in flexible 1D TiO2 nanotube photoanodes (TiO2 NT) based ss-DSSCs. The I-2-free polymer electrolyte plasticized with ethylene carbonate (EC) leads to a higher power conversion efficiency in DSSCs involving TiO2 NTs than the I-2-based polymer electrolyte, mainly due to improved V-oc and J(sc). Apart from overcoming the visible light absorption loss, this I-2-free polymer electrolyte also reduces the charge recombination and thus leads to higher electron lifetime in DSSCs. The I-2-free DSSCs also displayed long-term stability measured under ambient and accelerated stability testing. The improvement is also due to the effective pore infiltration into the large pores of TiO2 NT structure in ss-DSSCs.

Automated summary

The novel iodine-free polymer electrolyte used in flexible solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells demonstrates higher efficiency and stability due to improved V-oc and J(sc), reduced light absorption loss and charge recombination, and increased electron lifetime in the cells.