Controlled Dissolution
of Polystyrene Nanobeads: Transition
from Liquid Electrolyte to Gel Electrolyte
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Abstract
The widespread commercialization of dye-sensitized solar
cells
(DSSCs) remains limited because of the use of highly volatile liquid
electrolytes. Recently, gel-type quasi-solid electrolytes containing
a polymer additive or inorganic nanomaterial have shown promising
results in terms of the cell efficiency. However, most gel electrolytes
have serious obstacles for pore-filling because of their high viscosity.
Herein, we report the first observation of the transition from a liquid
to a gel electrolyte after filling the cell with the liquid electrolyte
using the controlled dissolution of polystyrene nanobeads on the counter
electrode, suggesting that the pore-filling problem can be diminished
in quasi-solid state DSSCs. The time-resolved solidification allows
for the preparation of the gel electrolyte without interfering with
the cell performance. The optimal DSSC composed of the gel electrolyte
exhibits almost the same power conversion efficiency as the liquid
electrolyte based DSSC when measured using an AM1.5G solar simulator
at 100 mW/cm<sup>2</sup> light illumination. Moreover, the long-term
stability of the DSSC was greatly improved