Dye-sensitized solar cells with PVA–KI–EC–PC gel electrolytes

Gel polymer electrolytes consisting of PVA–EC–PC–KI have been studied in this work. The highest room temperature (298 K) conductivity of 12.92 mS cm\(^{-1}\) is obtained for PVA-based gel polymer electrolyte (GPE) with composition 14.5 PVA-21.7 EC-28.7 PC-30.4 KI-4.7 \(\text{ I }_{2}\) (in wt%). The high conductivity is due to the highest number density of mobile ions in the electrolyte. The conductivity–temperature dependence follows the Vogel–Tamman–Fulcher (VTF) relationship. The trend of pseudoactivation energy \((E_{a})\) with salt concentration is contrary to that of conductivity. PVA-based GPEs with 5 to 35 wt% KI were used as a medium in ruthenium 535 (N719) dye-sensitized solar cells. The efficiency (\(\eta \)) of the solar cells increased as the composition of KI salt in the electrolyte increased. The highest power conversion efficiency of 2.74 % is obtained for solar cells fabricated with electrolyte containing 35 wt% KI. The variation of efficiency follows the same trend as short circuit current density \((J_{sc})\). The increase in \(J_{sc}\) is influenced by the increase in iodide ion concentration in the electrolyte that assists the redox process and helps electron to shuttle between ionized dye and counter electrode.