High-Efficiency Glass and Printable Flexible Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells with Water-Based Electrolytes

Abstract

The performance of a flexible and glass dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) with water-based electrolyte solutions is described. High concentrations of alkylamidazoliums were used to overcome the deleterious effect of water and, based on this variable, pure water-based electrolyte DSSCs were tested displaying the highest recorded efficiency so far of 3.45% and 6% for flexible and glass cells, respectively, under a simulated air mass 1.5 solar spectrum illumination at 100 mWcm −2 . An improvement in the J sc with high water content and the positive impact of GuSCN on the enhancement of the performance of pure water-based electrolytes were also observed.