Fabrication of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell: Comparative Study of Different Electrolytes
摘要
Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) are very promising third generation organic solar cells since they are a cheaper alternative of other photovoltaic power generation devices. Fabrication process of DSSCs is easy and cost effective. Typically, DSSCs consist of a meso porous titanium dioxide TiO2 layer coated on a transparent and conducting glass substrate (typically, fluorine doped tin oxide coated glass substrate) used as photo anode, a dye as photon sensitizer for the light absorption, a redox couple electrolyte (tri iodide/iodide) for regeneration of dye molecules, and a counter electrode typically, platinum (Pt). Mostly, KI + I2 (Potassium iodide/iodide) composite electrolyte is used in liquid electrolyte based DSSCs. However, problem with liquid electrolyte based DSSCs was lack of durability due to sealing and leakage. Hence, efforts have been done to replace with different polymer electrolytes for enhancing the stability of the cell. In the present study, we investigated the redox couple LiI (Lithium Iodide) + I2 (Iodine) and a polymer-based composite of poly ethylene oxide (PEO) to make quasi-solid electrolyte. Further, as the conducting polymer, polyaniline (PANI) was added to PEO based electrolyte for the enhancement in the efficiency of DSSCs. The concentration of various components of the electrolyte was optimized to achieve best efficiency. The dye Ruthenium (N719) was used in this study. The photovoltaic performance was measured at different intensities and compared with different concentrations of the electrolyte for the solar cells. It was observed that by varying the concentration of polymers and the ionic salt in the electrolyte, DSSCs becomes more stable, and the efficiency was also found to increase. Moreover, this quasi-solid electrolyte is more stable as compared to the liquid electrolyte.