Highly Efficient, Iodine-Free Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells with Solid-State Synthesis of Conducting Polymers

A solid-state polymerizable conductive monomer with good conductivity and penetration to the photoelectrode is introduced to iodine-free, solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) using an easily accessible and widely applicable fabrication method. A conducting polymer as a hole transporting material effectively penetrates into the TiO2 pores and polymerizes with heating to mild temperatures. The fabricated DSSCs exhibited the highest energy conversion efficiency of 5.4% in N719 dye.