Modification of poly(ethylene oxide) electrolyte by Brönsted base terminated oligo(ethylene glycol) and its application in dye-sensitized solar cells

Oligo(ethylene glycol) terminated by pyridine derivatives was designed and synthesized for improving the performance of the dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) with poly(ethylene oxide) based electrolyte. Effects of the plasticizer on retarding the recombination reaction in DSCs were characterized by current density–voltage characteristics. Combined with the results on electron density measurements, photovoltage–intensity characteristics correlate the retarded electron recombination with the upward movement of the conduction band edge and the reduced order of recombination reaction. The increased electron lifetimes of the DSCs with plasticizer modified electrolyte were confirmed by a small perturbation voltage decay technique. Additionally, WAXS measurements show that the presence of the plasticizer decreases the crystallinity of PEO electrolyte, which facilitates the mass transport of the redox species as impedance spectra indicated. By introducing guanidinium thiocyanate into the plasticizer modified PEO electrolyte, the performance of the DSCs is further improved, which yields the highest efficiency of 3.5%.

► Oligo(ethylene glycol) terminated by pyridine derivatives was synthesized as plasticizer. ► PEO electrolyte for dye sensitized solar cell (DSC) was modified with the plasticizer. ► The plasticizer in DSC retards recombination reaction and leveling up the band edge. ► Addition of GuSCN into the modified electrolyte yields the highest efficiency of 3.5%.