Consolidation of ion promoters into quasi solid-state (QSS) polymer electrolytes for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs)

Enhanced quasi solid-state (QSS) polymer electrolytes were developed by consolidating dissolved polyacrylonitrile (PAN) in a binary organic solvent of ethylene carbonate-propylene carbonate (EC-PC) with ion promoters such as 1-methyl-3-propylimidazolium iodide (MPII), sodium iodide (NaI) salt, and Iodine (I2). In this work, the concentration of I2 was varied to one-twentieth, one-fifteenth, one-tenth, one-fifth, and equal of the total weight of the NaI salt used. The purpose of this study is to investigate the dependence of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) performance on the concentration of I2. Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy study confirmed that there is a complexation occurred between all materials used. The electrolyte consists of I2 with one-tenth of the weight of the NaI salt (I1/10 electrolyte) has achieved the highest ionic conductivity of 8.70 × 10–3 S cm-1 at ambient temperature. From the current density-voltage (J-V) study, DSSC based I1/10 electrolyte has achieved the best photovoltaic efficiency of 6.47%. •The amorphousness of the electrolytes improved after the addition of ion promoters.•The functional groups of the electrolytes were examined by using FTIR analysis.•I1/10 electrolyte has achieved the highest ionic conductivity of 8.70 × 10−3 Scm−1.•DSSC based I1/10 electrolyte has reached maximum photovoltaic efficiency of 6.47%.