Long-Term Stable Solid-State Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells Assembled with Solid-State Polymerized Hole-Transporting Material

Abstract

The long-term stability of liquid-state dye-sensitized solar cells (liquid-DSSCs) is a primary problem for the upscaling and commercialization of this technology. The solid-state dye-sensitized solar cell (ss-DSSC) has been instigated to overcome the liquid-DSSC’s inherent production and instability issues and advancement has been made to achieve low-cost high-power conversion efficiency. The photovoltaic performance of ruthenium-based complex Z907 dye was studied in ss-DSSCs using a solid-state polymerized conductive polymer as hole-transporting material (HTM). We investigated the long-term stability of both liquid and solid-state DSSCs and the findings revealed an improved photovoltaic performance and long-term stability of ss-DSSC. This mainly depends on the transport phenomena of the HTM throughout the interface. The present results show a pavement for manufacturing highly stable and inexpensive ss-DSSC and the practical use is promising.

Keywords

• solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells
• device stability
• solid-state polymerization
• poly-3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene