Carbon nanotube (CNT)-polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) composite electrolyte for solid-state dye sensitized solar cells.
A novel carbon nanotube (CNT)-polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) composite electrolyte was successfully synthesized by the thermal polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) with CNTs for solid-state dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The prepared CNTs-PMMA composite electrolytes were characterized by Fourior transformed-infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and ionic conductivity. A strong bonding was observed between CNT and PMMA through ester bonding in the CNT-PMMA composite, resulting in the lowering of crystallinity and increasing the ionic conductivity of composite electrolyte. DSSCs fabricated with CNTs-PMMA composite electrolytes achieved relatively high conversion efficiency of 2.9% with an open circuit voltage (V(oc)) of 0.567 volt, short circuit current (I(sc)) of 8.9 mA/cm2 and fill factor of 61.8%, which is attributed to enhanced amorphicity and ionic conductivity due to the formation of strong bonding between CNT and PMMA molecules.
Lee
Hyun-Cheol
HC
School of Semiconductor and Chemical Engineering and Solar Energy Research Center, Chonbuk National University, Jeonju 561-756, Republic of Korea.
Akhtar
M Shaheer
MS
Park
Jung Geun
JG
Kim
Ki-Ju
KJ
Lee
S K
SK
Yang
O-Bong
OB