title: In situ Poly(methyl methacrylate)/Graphene Composite Gel Electrolytes for Highly Stable Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells.
abstract: Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) with long-term stability are produced using polymer-gel electrolytes (PGEs). In this study, we introduce the formation of PGEs using in situ gelation with poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) particles and graphene fillers that are pre-deposited on the counter electrodes. We obtain a high concentration PMMA-based PGEs (i.e., over 10 wt%). A DSC composed of a PMMA/graphene composite PGEs exhibits an 8.49% photon-to-electric conversion efficiency, which is comparable to conventional liquid electrolyte DSCs. This finding is attributed to increased ion diffusivity and conductivity of the PMMA-based PGEs resulting from the incorporation of graphene nanofillers. The PMMA-based PGE DSCs exhibit highly stable long-term efficiencies, maintaining up to 90% of their initial efficiency during thermal soaking, whereas the efficiencies of liquid electrolyte cells decrease significantly, by up to 60%.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Sogang University, Seoul, 121-742, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Yu-il
authors.initials: YI
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Sogang University, Seoul, 121-742, Republic of Korea. junhyuk@sogang.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Jun Hyuk
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Moon
mesh_terms: D004396:Coloring Agents / Q000737:chemistry*; D011211:Electric Power Supplies; D005782:Gels; D006108:Graphite / Q000737:chemistry*; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D019904:Polymethyl Methacrylate / Q000737:chemistry*; D013472:Sunlight; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D004396:Coloring Agents; D005782:Gels; D006108:Graphite; D019904:Polymethyl Methacrylate
keywords: dye-sensitized solar cells; fillers; gelation; graphene; polymer gel electrolytes