Synthesis of organic sulfobetaine-based polymer gel electrolyte for dye-sensitized solar cell application

We have synthesized eco-friendly, economic, and equally efficient polysulfobetaine-based gel electrolyte to the alternative of liquid electrolyte in the fabrication of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) for the first time. This nitrogen-rich and highly conductive polysulfobetaine was synthesized by an easy and facile method without the use of any catalyst and explored for its DSSC application. The synthesized polymer gel electrolyte exhibited good ionic conductivity about 6.8x10(-3)Scm(-1) at ambient temperatures. DSSCs were fabricated based on this polysulfobetaine gel electrolyte and studied for their performance based on photovoltaic parameters. The DSSC photovoltaic results were appreciable and are Voc=0.82V, Jsc=11.49mA/cm(2), FF=66%, and PCE=6.26% at 1 sun intensity. These values are slightly lower than conventional liquid electrolyte-based DSSC shown as Voc=0.78V, Jsc=12.90mA/cm(2), FF=69%, and PCE=7.07%, both at 100mWcm(-2). Conductivity and photovoltaic parameters of the device reveals that as prepared polysulfobetaine-based polymer gel electrolyte may be useful in the fabrication of DSSC and other electrochemical devices. Copyright (c) 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.