Work

A New Ionic Liquid Electrolyte Enhances the Conversion Efficiency of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

Year: 2003

Type: article

Abstract: An ionic liquid electrolyte composed of 1-methyl-3-propylimidazolium iodide, 1-methyl-3-ethylimidazolium dicyanamide, and lithium iodide (LiI) was combined with an amphiphilic polypyridyl ruthenium sensitizer to obtain a solar cell based on a solvent-free electrolyte that had an efficiency of 6.6% at an irradiance of air mass 1.5 (AM 1.5, 100 mW cm -2 ) and >7.1% at lower light intensities. This is the first time such a high efficiency was obtained for dye-sensitized solar cells with pure ionic liquid electrolytes. A thin-layer electrochemical cell was used to determine the redox potential of sensitizers anchored on TiO 2 nanocrystalline film by square-wave voltammetry. Laser transient absorbance measurements revealed that a significant enhancement of the device efficiency, after adding LiI to the ionic liquid electrolyte, could be ascribed to an increase in the electron injection yield and dye regeneration rate.

Source: The Journal of Physical Chemistry B

DOI: 10.1021/jp0355399

Authors: Peng Wang, Shaik M. Zakeeruddin, Jacques-E. Moser, Michael Grätzel

Institution: École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Language: English

Topic: TiO2 Photocatalysis and Solar Cells

Subfield: Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment

Field: Energy

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDG: Affordable and clean energy

Open Access status: green

Funder: Bundesamt für Energie