Improving Pore Filling of Gel Electrolyte and Charge Transport in Photoanode for High-Efficiency Quasi-Solid-State Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

We demonstrate the enhancement of pore-filling and wettability of gel electrolyte in quasi-solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) by developing a kinetically driven electrolyte infiltration approach, in which the air purging provides the driving force. This method renders fast electrolyte diffusion throughout the three-dimensional TiO2 nanoparticle network, promising for large-area device fabrication. In addition, for the first time we incorporate multiwalled carbon nanotubes into the anode of quasi-solid-state DSSCs to improve the charge transfer efficiency and fill factor. These advancements finally generate an efficiency exceeding 7.0%, much higher than the device efficiency of 5.5% fabricated by the conventional method.