A Study on the Effect of Ionic Conductivity on Addition of Salt for Polymer Nanocomposite Gel Electrolyte for Solar Cell Applications

Abstract

Abstract

Dye sensitized solar cells (DSSC) have attracted greater attention in the recent years because of their relatively high energy conversion efficiency and low cost. In the DSSCs, the electrolytes play a vital role in the determination of the efficiency and long term stability. In this investigation, we report on the synthesis, characterization and conductivity study of polymer nanocomposite gel electrolyte. Cadmium oxide nanoparticles were added into polymer blend of poly (vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) and poly (ethylene glycol) (PEG) based gel electrolyte to form nanocomposite for quasi solid state dye sensitized solar cells. The synthesized nanocomposite gel electrolyte was characterized by fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Lithium perchlorate salt was added as additive to the prepared polymer nanocomposite gel electrolyte and the ionic conductivity was measured using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The effect of ionic conductivity on the addition of salt with electrolyte was compared and interpreted.

Keywords: Nanocomposite, quasi solid state, dye sensitized solar cells, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy

Cite this Article

Suganya N, Hari Hara Priya G, Jaisankar V. A Study on the Effect of Ionic Conductivity on Addition of Salt for Polymer Nanocomposite Gel Electrolyte for Solar Cell Applications. Journal of Polymer & Composites. 2015; 3(3):       8–15p.