Photo-polymerization of methacrylate based polymer electrolyte for dye-sensitized solar cell

Abstract

Abstract The ionic conductivity of poly(glycidyl methacrylate-co-ethyl methacrylate) [P(GMA-co-EMA)]-lithium perchlorate (LiClO4)-ethylene carbonate (EC) electrolyte and photovoltaic performances of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) utilizing the electrolyte were investigated. P(GMA-co-EMA) as a host material of the electrolyte was synthesized by UV-curing and characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). P(GMA-co-EMA) based solid polymer electrolyte containing 80 wt% EC exhibited the highest room temperature ionic conductivity. The crystallinity degree of the electrolyte decreases with the EC content, as confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies. The electrochemical stability investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV) reveals that the electrolyte is stable up to 4.8 V. A dye-sensitized solar cell of fluorine tin oxide (FTO)/TiO2-dye/P(GMA-co-EMA)-LiClO4-EC/Pt possessed the photovoltaic effect with a short-circuit current density (Jsc) of 4.85×10-3 mA cm-2 and open circuit voltage (Voc) of 0.4 V, respectively, under light intensity of 100 mW cm-2.