Polymer electrolyte based dye-sensitized solar cell with rice starch and 1-methyl-3-propylimidazolium iodide ionic liquid

•Rice starch-based polymer electrolytes show high ionic conductivity.•1-methyl-3-propylimidazolium iodide increases the ionic conductivity.•High energy conversion efficiency is achieved.

Biodegradable rice starch was used to prepare solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs) using sodium iodide salt. The polymer electrolytes are prepared using solution cast technique. 1-methyl-3-propylimidazolium iodide (MPII) ionic liquid was incorporated in the polymer electrolyte. The ionic conductivity of SPEs are measured and temperature-dependent behavior of SPEs studied. All the solid polymer electrolytes follow Arrhenius type of thermal activated model. The ionic conductivity increased after addition of MPII ionic liquid. The highest ionic conductivity of 1.20 × 10− 3 S cm− 1 is achieved upon addition of 20 wt.% of MPII ionic liquid. Structural properties of polymer electrolytes are studied with FTIR and XRD which confirmed complexation between polymer and ionic liquid. The polymer electrolytes are analyzed for thermal study using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) are fabricated using polymer electrolytes and studied under Sun simulator. The highest energy conversion efficiency of 2.09% is attained after addition of 20 wt.% of MPII ionic liquid.

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