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Experimental and theoretical investigation of dye sensitized solar cells integrated with crosslinked poly(vinylpyrrolidone) polymer electrolyte using initiated chemical vapor deposition.

Authors :
Smolin, Yuriy Y.
Janakiraman, Sruthi
Soroush, Masoud
Lau, Kenneth K.S.
Source :
Thin Solid Films. Aug2017, Vol. 635, p9-16. 8p.
Publication Year :
2017

Abstract

Initiated chemical vapor deposition is used to integrate crosslinked poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) as a polymer electrolyte into the mesoporous TiO 2 photoanode of dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). By adjusting the fractional saturation ratio of ethylene glycol diacrylate (EGDA) crosslinker to vinylpyrrolidone (VP) monomer, the amount of crosslinker within the crosslinked polymer is controlled directly, and a minimum ratio of 0.2:1 (EGDA to VP) is found to form a robust insoluble crosslinked film. Fineman-Ross copolymer analysis indicates that both VP and EGDA prefer to polymerize with VP rather than with EGDA, likely due to reduced steric hindrance. DSSCs incorporating crosslinked PVP polymer electrolyte are found to have 51% higher power conversion efficiency (37% higher in open circuit voltage and 25% higher in fill factor) compared to DSSCs with liquid electrolytes. First-principles macroscopic mathematical modeling reveals that the polymer electrolyte shifts the conduction band of TiO 2 (vs. normal hydrogen electrode) negatively, increases shunt resistance, and affects interfacial processes like back-electron surface recombination in the cell. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
00406090
Volume :
635
Database :
Academic Search Index
Journal :
Thin Solid Films
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
123503543
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsf.2016.12.034