Synthesis and Characterization of Triazolium Iodide Ionic Liquid Electrolyte for Dye Sensitized Solar Cells

Abstract

Imidazolium iodide compounds have been utilized in the electrolytes for dye sensitized solar cells (DSSC). Most of the investigations with these compounds focus on the formulation of eutectic mixtures that promote efficient dissociation and diffusion of the iodide and triiodide species. Facile alternative synthetic approaches such as click chemistry (Huisgen 3+2 dipolar cycloaddition reaction) can be utilized to broaden the scope of electrochemically stable promising materials for novel electrolyte systems. Here, we report the first example of a triazolium functionalized cyclic siloxane that can be used as an electrolyte component in solvent-based DSSCs. The devices fabricated with this new triazolium salt in the electrolyte yielded short circuit current densities (26 mA/cm²), as well as power conversion efficiencies of 8%, these values are comparable to those obtained for imidazolium salt analogues.

Keywords:

• Dye sensitized solar cell
• triazolium iodide
• ionic liquid
• electrolyte

Acknowledgments

Dedicated to the memory of Professor Sukant K. Tripathy. This material is based upon work supported as part of Polymer-Based Materials for Harvesting Solar Energy, an Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences under Award Number DE-SC0001087.