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Enhanced performance of dye-sensitized solar cell using 2-mercaptobenzothiazole-doped poly(vinylidinefluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) polymer electrolyte

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Abstract

The effect of 2-mercaptobenzothiazole (2-MCBT) on the performance of poly(vinylidinefluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene)/KI/I2 (PVDF-HFP/KI/I2) electrolyte in dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) was studied. The pure and 2-MCBT-doped PVDF-HFP/KI/I2 electrolytes were prepared by solution casting technique using N,N-dimethyl formamide (DMF) as a solvent. The characteristic properties of the as-prepared polymer electrolyte films were examined using various techniques such as Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffractometer (XRD), AC-impedance analysis, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis. The ionic conductivity of polymer electrolytes was determined using AC-impedance analysis. The room temperature ionic conductivity of pure and 2-MCBT-doped PVDF-HFP/KI/I2 electrolytes were found to be 7.08 × 10−6 and 5.96 × 10−5 Scm−1, respectively. The increase in ionic conductivity of 2-MCBT-doped electrolyte may be due to the increase of both amorphous nature and iodide ion mobility of the polymer electrolyte. The photovoltaic studies, using pure and 2-MCBT-doped PVDF-HFP/KI/I2 electrolyte in DSSC showed an increase of power conversion efficiency from 1.74 to 3.46 % under the light intensity of 60 mW/cm2. Thus, the 2-MCBT-doped polymer electrolyte has been found to be a suitable material for DSSC applications.

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support received from the Department of Science and Technology-Science and Engineering Research Board (DST-SERB), New Delhi (sanction order no. SR/FT/CS-142/2011).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Solar Energy Lab, Department of Chemistry, Thiruvalluvar University, Vellore, 632 115, India

    R. A. Senthil, J. Theerthagiri & J. Madhavan

  2. Centre for Ionics University Malaya, Department of Physics, University of Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

    A. K. Arof

Authors
  1. R. A. Senthil
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  2. J. Theerthagiri
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  3. J. Madhavan
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  4. A. K. Arof
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Correspondence to J. Madhavan.

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Senthil, R.A., Theerthagiri, J., Madhavan, J. et al. Enhanced performance of dye-sensitized solar cell using 2-mercaptobenzothiazole-doped poly(vinylidinefluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) polymer electrolyte. Ionics 22, 1225–1230 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11581-016-1642-0

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