Abstract
Dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) is a promising alternative to the commercially available amorphous silicon-based solar cell because of several advantageous properties. A DSSC with a fast ion conducting solid polymer electrolyte is required for the arid atmosphere of Gulf countries. In this work, a new matrix, poly(ethylene oxide)-tetramethyl succinonitrile blend to synthesize a blend-LiI-I-2 solid polymer electrolyte for the DSSC application has been proposed. The tetramethyl succinonitrile is a member of plastic crystal with a solid-solid phase transition temperature (T-pc) of approximate to 71 degrees C and melting temperature (T-m) of approximate to 170.5 degrees C. Its molar fraction, 0.1-0.15 is sufficient enough for synthesizing a polymer electrolyte with electrical conductivity of >10(-4) S cm(-1) at room temperature. This electrolyte shows Vogel-Tamman-Fulcher type behavior with a low value (approximate to 0.083 eV) of pseudo-activation energy for easy ion transport. The results of Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffractometry, and differential scanning calorimetry studies reveal the plasticizing effect of tetramethyl succinonitrile to form an amorphous phase. This electrolyte results in a approximate to 661% gain in short-circuit current density and thereby a approximate to 552% gain in the cell efficiency (approximate to 3.5%) with respect to the DSSC prepared with the tetramethyl succinonitrile-free electrolyte.