A novel poly(acrylonitrile)/poly(ethylene glycol)-based polymer gel electrolyte for high efficiency dye sensitized solar cells

Abstract

This research article reports on a systematic approach to the development of polymer gel electrolytes (PGEs) for the applications of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The authors prepared PGE blend using poly(acrylonitrile) (PAN) and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) polymers along with three different ionic salts. They demonstrated a good ionic conductivity of 1.52 × 10⁻² S cm⁻¹, which improved PV performance. The conduction mechanism of the (PAN/PEG) PGE is based on the interaction of three cations of distinct sizes, Hex₄N⁺, K⁺, and Li⁺ ions, with the polymer host. The rapid diffusion of I⁻/I₃⁻ iodide ions through the pores formed by PEG in the PGE is the primary cause of improved ionic conductivity. Various compositions of (PAN/PEG) have been optimized to obtain a sufficient porous structure and improved photon conversion efficiency (PCE) of the cell, achieving 8.6% in this research. X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), impedance spectroscopy, incident photon conversion efficiency (IPCE) and finally current density voltage (J–V) characterization techniques are used to analyze and compare the results with those of liquid electrolyte-based cells.