Surface Carbon Shell-Functionalized ZrO2 as Nanofiller in Polymer Gel Electrolyte-Based Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

We prepare dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) fabricated with a poly (ethylene glycol) based polymer gel electrolytes (PGEs) incorporating surface carbon shell-functionalized ZrO2 nanoparticles (ZrO2-C) as nanofillers (NFs). ZrO2 are polymerized via atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) using...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nanomaterials (Basel, Switzerland) Switzerland), 2019-10, Vol.9 (10), p.1418
Main Authors: Lim, Seung Man, Moon, Juyoung, Choi, Gyo Hun, Baek, Uoon Chul, Lim, Jeong Min, Park, Jung Tae, Kim, Jong Hak
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
atom transfer radical polymerization (atrp)
Carbon
Charge transfer
dye-sensitized solar cell (dssc)
Dye-sensitized solar cells
Dyes
Efficiency
Electrodes
Electrolytes
Electrolytic cells
Energy conversion efficiency
Ethylene glycol
Glass substrates
Iodine
Lewis acid
Metal oxides
nanofiller (nf)
Nanomaterials
Nanoparticles
Photovoltaic cells
Polyethylene glycol
polymer gel electrolyte (pge)
Polymer gels
Polymerization
Polymers
Solar cells
Spectrum analysis
Thermogravimetric analysis
Transmission electron microscopy
Zirconium dioxide
zirconium dioxide (zro2)
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Summary:We prepare dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) fabricated with a poly (ethylene glycol) based polymer gel electrolytes (PGEs) incorporating surface carbon shell-functionalized ZrO2 nanoparticles (ZrO2-C) as nanofillers (NFs). ZrO2 are polymerized via atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) using poly (ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate (POEM) as a scaffold to prepare the ZrO2-C through carbonization. The power conversion efficiency of DSSC with 12 wt% ZrO2-C/PGEs is 5.6%, exceeding that with PGEs (4.4%). The enhanced efficiency is attributed to Lewis acid-base interactions of ZrO2-C and poly (ethylene glycol), catalytic effect of the carbon shells of ZrO2-C, which results in reduced crystallinity, enhanced ion conductivity of electrolytes, decreased counterelectrode/electrolyte interfacial resistance, and improved charge transfer rate. These results demonstrate that ZrO2-C introduction to PGEs effectively improves the performance of DSSCs.
ISSN:2079-4991
2079-4991
DOI:10.3390/nano9101418