Preparation And Properties Of PVDF/PMMA Based Quasi-solid Electrolyte

Liquid electrolytes were usually used in Dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC). However, liquid electrolytes caused the degradation of DSSC performance after long-term operation due to their high volatilities and solvent losses. To overcome these problems, solid and quasi-solid electrolytes have been investigated to replace the liquid electrolytes. Since DSSC with solid electrolyte has lower conversion efficiencies, the quasi-solid electrolytes have been attracting intensive attentions.The quasi-solid electrolytes based on Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF)and Poly(methacrylate)(PMMA) were prepared by the common preparation method of electrolyte in lithium battery in this work. The electrolytes were characterized by means of Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, Scanning Electron Microscope respectively. Moreover, the conductivity and the voltage-current curves of the electrolytes were measured by Four-probe Measurement and electrochemical workstation. The effects of the proportion of PVDF and PMMA, glycerol, nanometer TiO2 particles on the properties of the electrolytes were studied. Furthermore, the electrolytes were assembled to fabricate DSSC and the performance of the cells was tested.The results indicated that the optimum proportion of PVDF and PMMA was 6:4. And the addition of glycerol or nanometer TiO2 particles improved the conductivity of the electrolyte. The porous structure prepared with the addition of glycerol was beneficial to ion diffusion and thus enhanced the conductivity of the electrolytes. Furthermore,it was found that the cell fabricated by using PVDF/PMMA/glycerin (1500mg) electrolyte possessed the best properties with the open-circuit voltage of 0.60V and the short-circuit current of 1.1mA.