A series of N-Alkylimidazolium propylhexanamide iodide for dye-sensitized solar cells

Abstract

We report a series of novel imidazolium iodides based ionic liquids (NMIPHI, NAIPHI, and NBIPHI) with different functional groups for the development of a quasi-solid type electrolyte for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The diffusion coefficients of redox ions (I- and I3 -) are dependent on the molecular weight and it was higher for lighter salts. Among the three ionic liquids, NMIPHI showed highest efficiency of 4.18% when it was used in a liquid electrolyte of a DSSC with ca. 6 μm thick TiO2 mesoporous film. Even though the efficiency was ca. 19% lower than that obtained from a liquid electrolyte composed of PMII. When NMIPHI was mixed with PMII with a molar ratio of 1:1 in a solvent free electrolyte, the efficiency of the DSSCs was enhanced compared to that based on pristine PMII. Copyright © 2005 KCSNET.