Low molecular mass organogelator based gel electrolyte gelated by a quaternary ammonium halide salt for quasi-solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells

摘要

Quasi-solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells (DSC) are fabricated using tetradodecylammonium bromide as a low molecular mass organogelator (LMOG) to form gel electrolyte with a high solution-to-gel transition temperature (T_(SG) ) of 75 ℃ to hinder flow and volatilization of the liquid. The steady-state voltammograms reveal that the diffusion of the l_3~- and l~- in the gel electrolyte is hindered by the self-assembled network of the gel. An increased interfacial exchange current density (j_0) of 4.95 × 10~(-8) A cm~(-2) and a decreased electron recombination lifetime (τ) of 117 ms reveal an increased electron recombination at the dyed TiO_2 photoelectrode/electrolyte interface in the DSC after gelation. The results of the accelerated aging tests show that the gel electrolyte based dye-sensitized solar cell can retain over 93% of its initial photoelectric conversion efficiency value after successive heating at 60 ℃ for 1000h, and device degradation is negligible after one sun light soaking with UV cutoff filter for 1000h.