Background:
Electrolyte is an essential constituent of a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) as it
mediates charge transport and regeneration of the oxidized dye. Iodide/triiodide (I-
/I3-) based
electrolytes are the ones widely being used in DSSCs. These types of electrolytes are usually made
by dissolving high concentrations of triiodide and polyiodide species in solvents such as acetonitrile
or methoxypropionitrile. These solvents face evaporation issues and lead to stability problems, thus
reduce the life span of the DSSC. For solving these issues, various types of electrolytes such as ionic
liquids, and gelated liquid electrolytes have been used to replace the conventional volatile
electrolytes.
Objective:
To solve the solvent evaporation issue and increase in electric resistance, we aim to
synthesis a nonvolatile electrolyte with excellent open-circuit voltage and stability.
Method:
A new genre of nonvolatile Co(II)/Co(III) redox electrolyte was synthesized by the reaction
of tris(2-(1H-pyrazol-1-yl)pyridine)cobalt(II) and tris(2-(1H-pyrazol-1-yl)pyridine) cobalt(III) with
2,4,6-tris(dodecyloxy)benzaldehyde. As a proof-of-principle experiment, a DSSC was fabricated
using the as-synthesized electrolyte, N-719 dye as the light harvester, and TiO2 as the photoanode and
their performances were analyzed in room light conditions.
Results:
The DSSCs deliver a remarkable power conversion efficiency of 22.1%, an open circuit
voltage of 1 V and a power output of 88.5 μW cm–2
at 1000 lux, under illumination from a deltron
LED light.
Conclusion:
Cobalt based non-volatile electrolytes are efficient candidates that can replace the
conventional volatile electrolytes in DSSCs. Further research into this new type of electrolyte could
pave ways to deliver high open circuit voltage as well as good current density with high stability.
Higher Power Conversion Efficiency on Silicon based Heterojunction Device with FeZnO Dilute Magnetic Semiconductors
