Solidifying liquid electrolytes with fluorine polymer and silica nanoparticles for quasi-solid dye-sensitized solar cells

Poly(vinylidenefluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP) and silica nanoparticles were employed to solidify 3-methoxypropionitrile based liquid electrolytes containing an ionic liquid, 1-methyl-3-propylimidazolium iodide, as iodide resource. These new quasi-solid-state electrolytes were successfully used for regenerative phtoelectrochemical cells that yielded about 6.7% efficiency under simulated full sunlight (air mass 1.5. 100 mW cm(-2)) in combination with an amphiphilic ruthenium polypyridyl photosensitizer. The as-fabricated device showed a good thermostability at 80 degreesC for 30 days, maintaining higher than 90% of its initial performance. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.