title: Organophosphates as solvents for electrolytes in electrochemical devices.
abstract: A homologous series of fire-retardant oligoalkyleneoxy-phosphates was synthesized for evaluation as liquid or gel-type electrolyte media for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) and secondary lithium batteries. Unoptimized DSSC electrolyte formulations for DSSCs achieved ionic conductivities as high as 5.71 × 10(-3) S · cm(-1) and DSSC test-cell efficiencies up to 3.6% as well as Voc, Jsc, and ff up to 0.81 V, 8.03 mA · cm(-2), and 0.69, respectively. Poly(bis-(2-(2-methoxyethoxy)ethoxy)phosphazene)-based Li(+)-conducting gel electrolytes plasticized with the best performing phosphate had conductivities as high as 9.9 × 10(-4) S · cm(-1) at 30 °C. All the liquids have boiling points higher than 197 °C. The results show that the viscosity, glass transition temperatures, and conductivity of the phosphates are dependent mainly on the length of the longest alkyleneoxy chain.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, The Pennsylvania State University , University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, United States.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hess
authors.forename: Greg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Barber
authors.forename: Chen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Thomas E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Mallouk
authors.forename: Harry R
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Allcock