Highly efficient solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells based on hexylimidazolium iodide ionic polymer electrolyte prepared by in situ low-temperature polymerization

Solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) are fabricated using a novel ionic polymer electrolyte containing hexylimidazolium iodide (HII) ionic polymer prepared by in situ polymerization of N,N′-bis(imidazolyl) hexane and 1,6-diiodohexane without an initiator at low temperature (40 °C). The as-prepared HII ionic polymer has a similar structure to alkylimidazolium iodide ionic liquid, and the imidazolium cations are contained in the polymer main chain; so, it can act simultaneously as the redox mediator in the electrolyte. By incorporating an appropriate amount of 1,3-dimethylimidazolium iodide (DMII) in HII ionic polymer (DMII/HII ionic polymer = 0.7:1, weight ratio), the conductivity of the ionic polymer electrolyte is greatly improved due to the formation of Grotthuss bond exchange. In addition, in situ synthesis of ionic polymer electrolyte guarantees a good pore-filling of the electrolyte in the TiO2 photoanode. As a result, the solid-state DSC based on the ionic polymer electrolyte containing HII ionic polymer and DMII without iodine achieves a conversion efficiency of 6.55% under the illumination of 100 mW cm−2 (AM 1.5), which also exhibits a good at-rest stability at room temperature.