Synthesis of a novel imidazolium-based electrolytes and application for dye-sensitized solar cells

A series of new imidazolium-based oligomers with different length of a poly(ethylene glycol) moiety as a linker were synthesized and studied as electrolytes for dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC). These oligomeric molecules are expected to have an intra- or inter-molecular hydrogen bonding interaction through its urethane and urea bonds. They can be used to prepare the liquid-type electrolytes for DSSC by dissolving them into conventional solvent system or to develop solvent-free electrolytes by incorporating an extra redox mediator and other functional materials together as additives. It was found that these oligomers could replace the cationic component of the conventional electrolytes and became the source of redox species when iodine is added. The photocurrent–voltage characteristics of DSSCs with the electrolytes containing these oligomers demonstrated that they can successfully replace the conventional ionic liquid-type electrolytes such as 1-methyl-3-propyl imidazolium iodide (PMII) in 3-methoxypropionitrile (MPN) if the length of the linker is optimized.