TY - JOUR
T1 - Advancing the stability and efficiency of quantum dot-sensitized solar cells through a novel, green, and water-based thixotropic biopolymer/ordered nanopores silica designed quasi-solid-state gel electrolytes
AU - Rasal, Akash S.
AU - Wu, Meng Hsun
AU - Ghule, Anil V.
AU - Gatechew, Girum
AU - Kashale, Anil A.
AU - Peter Chen, I. Wen
AU - Chang, Jia Yaw
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors would like to acknowledge financial support from the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Republic of China (Contract No. MOST 110-2113-M-011-003). This work was also financially supported by Taiwan Building Technology Center from The Featured Areas Research Center Program within the framework of the Higher Education Sprout Project by the Ministry of Education in Taiwan. Thanks to Ms. C.-Y. Chien of the Ministry of Science and Technology (National Taiwan University) for assistance with HR-TEM experiments.
Funding Information:
The authors would like to acknowledge financial support from the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Republic of China (Contract No. MOST 110-2113-M-011-003). This work was also financially supported by Taiwan Building Technology Center from The Featured Areas Research Center Program within the framework of the Higher Education Sprout Project by the Ministry of Education in Taiwan. Thanks to Ms. C.-Y. Chien of the Ministry of Science and Technology (National Taiwan University) for assistance with HR-TEM experiments.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2022/10/15
Y1 - 2022/10/15
N2 - The practical application of liquid electrolyte-constructed quantum-dot sensitized solar cells (QDSSCs) is far from satisfactory due to the short-term performance, poor TiO2 penetration, leakage, and volatilization of liquid electrolytes. In this respect, three of the most critical problems with QDSSCs are addressed in this research: (i) low open-circuit voltage (VOC); (ii) low fill factor (FF), thereby, low efficiency; and, (iii) the device's poor performance stability over time. Herein, a simple approach to fabricate water-based quasi-solid-state gel electrolytes (QSSGE) designed QDSSCs by combining guar gum (GG) biopolymer and ordered nanopores silica (SBA) is reported. For the first time, SBA is being employed as an electrolyte additive to catalyze the reduction of polysulfide electrolyte more efficiently. The resultant SBA/GG gel electrolytes system offers several advantages including (i) passivating the surface trap states between TiO2/QD/electrolyte interfaces; (ii) providing a three-dimensional (3D) porous structure for the free migration of ions; (iii) its surface rich hydroxyl groups establish good contact with the photoanode. The Cu-In-S sensitized devices with SBA/GG gel electrolytes demonstrated superior power conversion efficiencies (PCE) of 9.14% in one full sunlight. This photovoltaic performance is considered to be one of the highest for copper-based QDSSCs. The outstanding PCE with gel electrolyte-constructed QDSSCs are reflected from simultaneous augmentation in VOC and FF that initiated by the synergistic interaction between SBA and GG for controlled interfacial electron-hole recombination dynamics. Moreover, gel electrolyte-constructed QDSSCs outperformed both SBA and liquid electrolyte-constructed QDSSCs in terms of performance stability, lasting up to 168 h instead of 120 or 72 h, respectively. The primary goal of this research is to develop biopolymer-based QSSGEs that are both efficient and stable while also being environmentally beneficial.
AB - The practical application of liquid electrolyte-constructed quantum-dot sensitized solar cells (QDSSCs) is far from satisfactory due to the short-term performance, poor TiO2 penetration, leakage, and volatilization of liquid electrolytes. In this respect, three of the most critical problems with QDSSCs are addressed in this research: (i) low open-circuit voltage (VOC); (ii) low fill factor (FF), thereby, low efficiency; and, (iii) the device's poor performance stability over time. Herein, a simple approach to fabricate water-based quasi-solid-state gel electrolytes (QSSGE) designed QDSSCs by combining guar gum (GG) biopolymer and ordered nanopores silica (SBA) is reported. For the first time, SBA is being employed as an electrolyte additive to catalyze the reduction of polysulfide electrolyte more efficiently. The resultant SBA/GG gel electrolytes system offers several advantages including (i) passivating the surface trap states between TiO2/QD/electrolyte interfaces; (ii) providing a three-dimensional (3D) porous structure for the free migration of ions; (iii) its surface rich hydroxyl groups establish good contact with the photoanode. The Cu-In-S sensitized devices with SBA/GG gel electrolytes demonstrated superior power conversion efficiencies (PCE) of 9.14% in one full sunlight. This photovoltaic performance is considered to be one of the highest for copper-based QDSSCs. The outstanding PCE with gel electrolyte-constructed QDSSCs are reflected from simultaneous augmentation in VOC and FF that initiated by the synergistic interaction between SBA and GG for controlled interfacial electron-hole recombination dynamics. Moreover, gel electrolyte-constructed QDSSCs outperformed both SBA and liquid electrolyte-constructed QDSSCs in terms of performance stability, lasting up to 168 h instead of 120 or 72 h, respectively. The primary goal of this research is to develop biopolymer-based QSSGEs that are both efficient and stable while also being environmentally beneficial.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.cej.2022.137293
DO - 10.1016/j.cej.2022.137293
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85131954900
SN - 1385-8947
VL - 446
JO - Chemical Engineering Journal
JF - Chemical Engineering Journal
M1 - 137293
ER -
