Photoinduced polyacrylate based polymer electrolyte for quasi-solid state dye sensitized solar cell application

Abstract

A novel polymer electrolyte poly(NAG) prepared from commercially available transparent photocurable nail art glue NAG is successfully developed for quasi-solid state dye sensitized solar cells (QS-DSSCs) application. The functional component in this poly(NAG) is revealed to be acrylate based group from the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) measurement. Water contact angles tests showthe poly(NAG) films displayed contact angle less than 20° when dripping liquid electrolyte containing iodide/tri-iodide redox couple. Meanwhile, electrochemical properties of poly(NAG) polymer based electrolyte are thoroughly investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The poly(NAG) polymer electrolyte presents an a highest ionic conductivity of 0.51 mS·cm-1 at room-temperature. Solar cell based on the poly(NAG) electrolyte reaches power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 1.46%. This work demonstrates that this NAG is a novel, cheap, environmental friendly and efficient precursor for preparing polymer electrolyte for DSSCs application. Its abundance can significantly reduce cell fabrication cost, and this work opens a new way to look for promising resource for the application of DSSCs.