Solid-state nanocrystalline dye-sensitized solar cell using 2-mercapto benzimidazole doped poly (ethylene oxide) as a new polymer electrolyte

  • B Muthuraaman, Department of Energy, University of Madras, Guindy Campus, India
  • P Maruthamuthu, Department of Energy, University of Madras, Guindy Campus, India
  • S Ganesan, Department of Energy, University of Madras, Guindy Campus, India
  • S Latha, Department of Energy, University of Madras, Guindy Campus, India
  • SAustin Suthanthiraraj, Department of Energy, University of Madras, Guindy Campus, India
  • Prof John Bell, Faculty of Built Environment and Engineering, Queensland University of Technology, Australia

    • New composite doped poly (ethylene oxide) polymer electrolyte was developed using 2-mercapto benzimidazole as plasticizer and iodide/triiodide as redox couple. The fabrication of the cell involves Poly(ethylene oxide)/ 2-mercapto benzimidazole / I–/I3– as polymer electrolyte with N3 dye and TiO2 nanoparticles as the photoanode and Platinum coated FTO (fluorine doped SnO2) as counter electrode. The current-voltage characteristics under simulated sunlight AM1.5 shows a short circuit current of 8.7 mA cm–2 and open circuit photovoltage 508 mV. The conductivity measurements for the new polymer electrolyte and the photoelectrochemical measurements were carried out systematically. In 2-mercapto benzimidazole the electron rich sulphur and nitrogen atoms, act as π-electron donors that form good interaction with iodine which plays a vital role in the performance of the fabricated dye-sensitized solar cells. The resonance effect increases the stability of the cell to a considerable extent. These results suggest that the new composite polymer electrolyte performs as a promising new doped polymer electrolyte.