Effect of ultra-thin polymer membrane electrolytes on dye-sensitized solar cells

In-situ ultra-thin porous poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) P(VDF–HFP) membranes were prepared by a phase inversion method on TiO2 electrodes coated with Ru N-719 dye. These membranes were then soaked in the organic liquid electrolyte to form the in-situ ultra-thin porous P(VDF–HFP) membrane electrolytes. Dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC) using the membrane electrolyte exhibited an open-circuit voltage (Voc) of 0.751 V, a short-circuit current (Jsc) of 16.260 mA cm−2 and a fill factor (FF) of 0.684 under an incident light intensity of 1000 W m−2 yielding an energy conversion efficiency (η) of 8.35%. The Voc, FF and η of the solar cell using the membrane electrolyte increased by about 5.8%, 2.2% and 5.7%, respectively, when compared with the corresponding values of a cell using liquid electrolyte. However, the Jsc decreased by about 2.1%.