(SiO2)100-x-Nix (x = 2.5, 10.0) Composite-based photoanode with polymer gel electrolyte for increased dye-sensitized solar cell performance

Abstract

This work aims on the degradation performance of (SiO2)100-x-Nix (x = 2.5, 10.0) photoanodes incorporating with liquid and gel polymer electrolyte for dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC). The silica doped with nickel and gel polymer electrolyte was prepared by sol-gel polymerization of tetraethyl orthosilicate and sol-gel polymerization of polyacrylonitrile (PAN), respectively. The utilization of PAN-based gel polymer electrolyte improved the value of open circuit voltage due to its high ionic conductivity and mechanical stability in DSSC. The (SiO2)90.0-Ni10.0-based DSSC utilizing PAN-based gel polymer electrolyte exhibited the highest power conversion efficiency of 2.96%. The field emission electron microscopy images show larger average particle size with greater porosity in the (SiO2)90.0-Ni10.0 thin film. Moreover, the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller analysis determines greater active surface area on (SiO2)90.0-Ni10.0 thin films that indicates more dye molecules may adsorb on the mesoporous photoanode to facilitate electron transport in the DSSC. © 2019, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.