Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells With Ionic Liquids Electrolyte And Electropolymerized-PANI Count Electrode

Recent years, dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) has got more and more attention with the advantage of high conversion efficiency, low cost and simple production process. In this article, we introduced the composition and working principle of DSSC, the role of TiO2 nanocrystal film, electrolyte and count electrode in photoelectric conversion and the production methods of them. We successfully made electropolymerized-polyaniline (PANI) film as count electrode for DSSC first time. Details as follows, the in-situ electropolymerized-polyaniline film (thickness:-10μm) on FTO (fluorine tin oxide) glass doped by SO42- was prepared, and its electropolymerizaion process characterized by cyclic voltammetry. SEM of electropolymerized-PANI films doped by SO42- exhibit porous and crude film morphology, and the porous film structures may be favorable for the high surface area porous counter electrode. The performance of DSSC with ionic liquids electrolyte and electropolymerized-PANI count electrode was also researched at the same time. The electrolytes composed of two binary ionic liquids PMII and [EMIm]BF4, [EMIm]N(CN)2, [EMIm]NTf2 in different ratio (volume/volume) were prepared. It is found that the electrolyte ([EMIm]N(CN)2:PMII was 4:6) gave the best photovoltaic parameters:short-circuit current density (Isc=10.4 mA cm-2), open-circuit voltage(Voc=0.655V), fill factor(FF=0.521) and an overall energy conversion efficiency(η=3.56%) when the electrolytes was applied to the DSSC with a electropolymerized-PANI electrode. On the other hand, the conductivity and apparent diffusion of I3- and I- ions of electrolytes for DSSC were also measured. The electrolyte ([EMIm]N(CN)2:PMII was 4:6) possessed of the highest conductivity and apparent diffusion of I3- and I-.