Open AccessEfficient gel‐type electrolyte with bismaleimide via in situ low temperature polymerization in dye‐sensitized solar cells
Author(s) -
Chen JianGing,
Liu KenYen,
Chen ChiaYuan,
Lin ChiaYu,
Huang KuanChieh,
Lai YiHsuan,
Wu ChunGuey,
Lin KingFu,
Ho KuoChuan
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of polymer science part a: polymer chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.768
H-Index - 152
eISSN - 1099-0518
pISSN - 0887-624X
DOI - 10.1002/pola.24290
Subject(s) - electrolyte , monomer , polymerization , dye sensitized solar cell , polymer chemistry , materials science , biphenyl , chemical engineering , chemistry , polymer , electrode , composite material , organic chemistry , engineering
This study reports the characteristics of gel‐type dye‐sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), fabricated with gel‐type electrolyte containing poly‐1,1′‐(methylenedi‐4,1‐phenylene)bismaleimide (PBMI), or poly‐1,1′‐(3,3′‐dimethyl‐1,1′‐biphenyl‐4,4′‐diyl)bismaleimide (PDBBMI), or poly‐N,N′‐(4‐methyl‐1,3‐phenylene)bismaleimide (PMPBMI), prepared by in situ polymerization of the corresponding monomer without an initiator at 30 °C. Incorporating 0.3 wt % content of exfoliated alkyl‐modified nanomica (EAMNM) into PBMI‐gelled electrolyte leads to higher short‐circuit current density ( J sc = 17.14 mA cm −2 ) and efficiency (η = 7.02%) than that of neat PBMI‐gel electrolyte ( J sc = 15.32 mA cm −2 , η = 6.41%). Incorporating 0.3 wt % EAMNM into PBMI‐gelled electrolyte results in remarkably stable device performance under continuous light soaking under one sun (100 mW cm −2 ) at 55 °C. The efficiency of DSSCs based on PBMI/0.3 wt % EAMNM‐gelled electrolyte drops by only 1.7% (η = 6.93%) after 500 h of continuous light soaking. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2010