Synthesis and integration of poly(1-vinylimidazole) polymer electrolyte in dye sensitized solar cells by initiated chemical vapor deposition

•Synthesis of poly(1-vinylimidazole) via initiated chemical vapor deposition.•First order polymerization kinetics with respect to surface monomer concentration.•Crosslinking of poly(1-vinylimidatzole) with ethylene glycol diacrylate.•Improved photocurrent and photovoltage in dye sensitized solar cells integrated with crosslinked poly(1-vinylimidazole).

Initiated chemical vapor deposition (iCVD) is used to integrate poly(1-vinylimidazole) (PVIZ) into the mesoporous photoanode of dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). To our knowledge, this is the first reported demonstration of PVIZ via iCVD as a novel polymer electrolyte in DSSCs. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) verified the iCVD polymer as stoichiometric PVIZ. Polymer deposition rate was found to increase with increasing reactor pressure and decreasing substrate temperature. The kinetic studies further determined that the surface polymerization reaction is first order with respect to the surface monomer concentration. The power conversion efficiency of DSSCs incorporating crosslinked PVIZ was found to be 27% higher than that of liquid electrolyte DSSCs as a result of higher open circuit voltage and short circuit current.

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