1 research outputs found
Layered Double Hydroxides as an Effective Additive in Polymer Gelled Electrolyte based Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells
Layered double hydroxides (LDH),
a class of anionic clay materials,
were developed as an effective additive for polymer gelled electrolytes
for use in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC). Carbonate and chloride
intercalated Zn-Al LDHs, ZnAl-CO<sub>3</sub> LDH, and ZnAl-Cl LDH
were prepared with coprecipitation methods. The addition of the two
LDHs significantly improved, in terms of power conversion efficiency
(PCE), over the plain polyÂ(vinylidene fluoride-<i>co</i>-hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP) gelled electrolyte and competed
favorably with the liquid electrolyte based DSSCs, 8.13% for the liquid
electrolyte, 7.48% for the plain PVDF-HFP gelled electrolyte, 8.11%
for the ZnAl-CO<sub>3</sub> LDH/PVDF-HFP gelled electrolyte, and 8.00%
for the ZnAl-Cl LDH/PVDF-HFP gelled electrolyte based DSSCs. The good
performance in PCEs achieved by the LDH-loaded DSSCs came mainly from
the significant boost in open circuit voltages (<i>V</i><sub>oc</sub>), from 0.74 V for both the liquid electrolyte and PVDF-HFP
gelled electrolyte based DSSCs to 0.79 V for both the ZnAl-CO<sub>3</sub> LDH/PVDF-HFP and ZnAl-Cl LDH/PVDF-HFP gelled electrolyte
based DSSCs. The boost in <i>V</i><sub>oc</sub> was contributed
mainly by the positive shift in redox potential of the redox couple,
I<sup>–</sup>/I<sub>3</sub><sup>–</sup>, as revealed
from cyclic voltammetry analyses. As for the long-term stability,
PCE retention rates of 96 and 99% after 504 h were achieved by the
ZnAl-CO<sub>3</sub> LDH/PVDF-HFP and ZnAl-Cl LDH/PVDF-HFP gelled electrolyte
based DSSCs, respectively, appreciably better than 92% achieved by
the liquid electrolyte based one after 480 h