Robust High-performance Dye-sensitized Solar Cells Based on Ionic Liquid-sulfolane Composite Electrolytes

Abstract

Novel ionic liquid-sulfolane composite electrolytes based on the 1,2,3-triazolium family of ionic liquids were developed for dye-sensitized solar cells. The best performing device exhibited a shortcircuit current density of 13.4 mA cm-2, an open-circuit voltage of 713 mV and a fill factor of 0.65, corresponding to an overall power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 6.3%. In addition, these devices are highly stable, retaining more than 95% of the initial device PCE after 1000 hours of light-and heatstress. These composite electrolytes show great promise for industrial application as they allow for a 14.5% improvement in PCE, compared to the solvent-free eutectic ionic liquid electrolyte system, without compromising device stability.