Journal of Power Sources
Journal of Power Sources
4 years ago

Surface NH2-rich nanoparticles: Solidifying ionic-liquid electrolytes and improving the performance of dye-sensitized solar cells

Surface NH2-rich nanoparticles: Solidifying ionic-liquid electrolytes and improving the performance of dye-sensitized solar cells
The surface properties of nanoparticles have a significant influence on the properties of the gel electrolytes. Herein, the surface NH2-rich nanoparticle (A-SiO2), with a tightening network, is synthesized by silanizing SiO2 nanoparticles with pre-polymerized aminopropyltriethoxysilane, which is further employed to prepare ionic-liquid gel electrolytes for dye-sensitized solar cells. The addition of a small amount of A-SiO2 can effectively solidify the ionic-liquid, whereas a large number of NH2 groups on the SiO2 surface leads to a large negative shift of the TiO2 conduction band edge, and can react with I3 − in the form of a Lewis complex, resulting in an increase in the concentration of I− and a decrease in the concentration of I3 − in the electrolyte. In addition, the ionic-liquid gel electrolyte possesses thixotropic behavior, which allows it to easily penetrate into the inner part of the TiO2 mesoporous film. As a result, large improvements of the photovoltage from 695 mV to 785 mV and of the photocurrent from 13.3 mA cm−2 to 14.9 mA cm−2 are achieved. This leads to significant enhancement of the power conversion efficiency, from 6.2% to 8.1%, for the cell with A-SiO2 compared to that of the pristine ionic-liquid electrolyte.

Publisher URL: www.sciencedirect.com/science

DOI: S0378775317313319

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