TY - JOUR
T1 - Quasi-Solid-State Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells by Mechanically Stable Semi-Interpenetrating Network Polymer Gel Electrolytes for Indoor Applications
AU - Masud, None
AU - Kim, Youn Soo
AU - Kim, Hwan Kyu
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 American Chemical Society
PY - 2024/6/24
Y1 - 2024/6/24
N2 - Herein, the copolymer composition of [AN] and [4VP] units of [P(AN-co-4VP)]2-b-PEO (here, AN = acrylonitrile, 4VP = 4-vinylpyridine, and PEO = poly(ethylene oxide)) block copolymer (BCP) was controlled by reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization to make it acetonitrile-soluble BCP so that this BCP can be further converted into in situ three-dimensional (3D) network polymer gel electrolytes (PGEs) inside the cell by quaternization reaction in acetonitrile-based liquid electrolyte media. Before in situ application, a fully semisolid 3D network polymer gel with high mechanical stability was obtained by optimizing the quaternization reaction conditions in an iodine liquid electrolyte medium. The excess cross-linking agent, 1,8-diiodooctane, was utilized to ensure a fully quasi-solid-state gel by chemical cross-linking in the presence of iodine and tert-butylpyridine (TBP) of the liquid electrolyte. The addition of liner PEGDME (average MW 2000) in a cross-linking polymer further enhances the mechanical stability of the network PGE. A remarkable photovoltaic performance, above 7% efficiency, was found for quasi-solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells (QSS-DSSCs) under 1 sun conditions, around 20% lower than that for volatile liquid-state DSSCs. However, the deviation of efficiency for QSS-DSSCs by using in situ 3D semi-IPN PGE was reduced to 10% with liquid-state DSSCs under compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) ambient light. 16-20% efficiency of QSS-DSSCs by in situ semi-IPN PGE under CFL light intensity of 200-2000 lx can be entirely satisfactory in terms of flexibility and mechanical stability of the device, which ensures the potential of these QSS devices to power indoor-placed wireless devices and low-powered consumer electronic devices.
AB - Herein, the copolymer composition of [AN] and [4VP] units of [P(AN-co-4VP)]2-b-PEO (here, AN = acrylonitrile, 4VP = 4-vinylpyridine, and PEO = poly(ethylene oxide)) block copolymer (BCP) was controlled by reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization to make it acetonitrile-soluble BCP so that this BCP can be further converted into in situ three-dimensional (3D) network polymer gel electrolytes (PGEs) inside the cell by quaternization reaction in acetonitrile-based liquid electrolyte media. Before in situ application, a fully semisolid 3D network polymer gel with high mechanical stability was obtained by optimizing the quaternization reaction conditions in an iodine liquid electrolyte medium. The excess cross-linking agent, 1,8-diiodooctane, was utilized to ensure a fully quasi-solid-state gel by chemical cross-linking in the presence of iodine and tert-butylpyridine (TBP) of the liquid electrolyte. The addition of liner PEGDME (average MW 2000) in a cross-linking polymer further enhances the mechanical stability of the network PGE. A remarkable photovoltaic performance, above 7% efficiency, was found for quasi-solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells (QSS-DSSCs) under 1 sun conditions, around 20% lower than that for volatile liquid-state DSSCs. However, the deviation of efficiency for QSS-DSSCs by using in situ 3D semi-IPN PGE was reduced to 10% with liquid-state DSSCs under compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) ambient light. 16-20% efficiency of QSS-DSSCs by in situ semi-IPN PGE under CFL light intensity of 200-2000 lx can be entirely satisfactory in terms of flexibility and mechanical stability of the device, which ensures the potential of these QSS devices to power indoor-placed wireless devices and low-powered consumer electronic devices.
KW - Indoor photovoltaics
KW - chemical cross-linking
KW - quaternization
KW - reversible addition−fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization
KW - three-dimensional (3D) network polymer gel electrolytes
KW - triblock copolymers
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85196041046&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1021/acsaem.4c00717
DO - 10.1021/acsaem.4c00717
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85196041046
SN - 2574-0962
VL - 7
SP - 5226
EP - 5234
JO - ACS Applied Energy Materials
JF - ACS Applied Energy Materials
IS - 12
ER -