Pore Size Control of a Highly Transparent Interfacial Layer via a Polymer-assisted Approach for Dye-sensitized Solar Cells

Chang Soo Lee; Jae Hun Lee; Min Su Park; Jong Hak Kim

Korean Chemical Engineering Research, Vol.57, No.3, 392-399, June, 2019

DOI10.9713/kcer.2019.57.3.392 Export Citation

Pore Size Control of a Highly Transparent Interfacial Layer via a Polymer-assisted Approach for Dye-sensitized Solar Cells

Chang Soo Lee, Jae Hun Lee, Min Su Park, and Jong Hak Kim^†

Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Yonsei University, 50, Yonsei-ro, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, 03722, Korea

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A highly transparent interfacial layer (HTIL) to enhance the performance of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) was prepared via a polymer-assisted (PA) approach. Poly(vinyl chloride)-graft-poly(oxyethylene methacrylate) (PVC-g- POEM) was synthesized via atom-transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) and was used as a sacrificial template. The PVC-g-POEM graft copolymer induced partial coordination of a hydrophilic titanium isopropoxide (TTIP) sol-gel solution with the POEM domain, resulting in microphase separation, and in turn, the generation of mesopores upon calcination. These phenomena were confirmed using Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, UV-visible light transmittance spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. The DSSCs incorporating HTIL60/20 (consisting of a top layer with a pore size of 60 nm and a bottom layer with a pore size of 20 nm) exhibited the best overall conversion efficiency (6.36%) among the tested samples, which was 25.9% higher than that of a conventional blocking layer (BL). DSSC was further characterized using the Nyquist plot and incident-photon to electron conversion efficiency (IPCE) spectra.

Keywords:Dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC);Graft copolymer;Interfacial layer;Mesoporous TiO2;Microphase separation

[References]

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Kim SR, Parvez MK, Chhowalla M, Chem. Phys. Lett., 483(1-3), 124 (2009)
Kim YJ, Lee YH, Lee MH, Kim HJ, Pan JH, Lim GI, Choi YS, Kim K, Park NG, Lee C, Lee WI, Langmuir, 24(22), 13225 (2008)
Ahn SH, Jeon H, Son KJ, Ahn H, Koh WG, Ryu DY, Kim JH, J. Mater. Chem., 21(6), 1772 (2011)
Park JT, Prosser JH, Ahn SH, Kim SJ, Kim JH, Lee D, Adv. Funct. Mater., 23(17), 2193 (2013)
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Kim NU, Park BJ, Park MS, Kim JH, Membr. J., 28(2), 113 (2018)
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Patel R, Park JT, Park MS, Kim JH, Membr. J., 27(6), 499 (2017)
Son TY, Jo JW, Kim JH, Kim TH, Tocci E, Nam SY, Membr. J., 27(6), 528 (2017)
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Koh JH, Lee KJ, Seo JA, Kim JH, J. Polym. Sci. B: Polym. Phys., 47(15), 1443 (2009)
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Liu B, Aydil ES, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 131(11), 3985 (2009)
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Baek IC, Vithal M, Chang JA, Yum JH, Nazeeruddin MK, Gratzel M, Chung YC, Seok SI, Electrochem. Commun., 11(4), 909 (2009)

[Referenced By]

[1] Barnham KWJ, Mazzer M, Clive B, Nat. Mater., 5(3), 161 (2006)

[2] Commoner B, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, New York City, NY(2015).

[3] Law M, Greene LE, Johnson JC, Saykally R, Yang PD, Nat. Mater., 4(6), 455 (2005)

[4] Hagfeldt A, Boschloo G, Sun LC, Kloo L, Pettersson H, Chem. Rev., 110(11), 6595 (2010)

[5] O'regan B, Gratzel M, Nature, 353(6346), 737 (1991)

[6] Kim SR, Parvez MK, Chhowalla M, Chem. Phys. Lett., 483(1-3), 124 (2009)

[7] Kim YJ, Lee YH, Lee MH, Kim HJ, Pan JH, Lim GI, Choi YS, Kim K, Park NG, Lee C, Lee WI, Langmuir, 24(22), 13225 (2008)

[8] Ahn SH, Jeon H, Son KJ, Ahn H, Koh WG, Ryu DY, Kim JH, J. Mater. Chem., 21(6), 1772 (2011)

[9] Park JT, Prosser JH, Ahn SH, Kim SJ, Kim JH, Lee D, Adv. Funct. Mater., 23(17), 2193 (2013)

[10] Ahmad R, Kim JK, Kim JH, Kim J, Membr. J., 27(4), 328 (2017)

[11] Kim NU, Park BJ, Park MS, Kim JH, Membr. J., 28(2), 113 (2018)

[12] Park BJ, Kim NU, Park JT, Kim JH, Membr. J., 28, 121 (2018)

[13] Patel R, Park JT, Park MS, Kim JH, Membr. J., 27(6), 499 (2017)

[14] Son TY, Jo JW, Kim JH, Kim TH, Tocci E, Nam SY, Membr. J., 27(6), 528 (2017)

[15] Shin JE, Park HB, Membr. J., 28(4), 221 (2018)

[16] Roh DK, Park JT, Ahn SH, Ahn H, Ryu DY, Kim JH, Electrochim. Acta, 55(17), 4976 (2010)

[17] Koh JH, Lee KJ, Seo JA, Kim JH, J. Polym. Sci. B: Polym. Phys., 47(15), 1443 (2009)

[18] Ahn SH, Koh JH, Seo JA, Kim JH, Chem. Commun., 46(11), 1935 (2010)

[19] Burke JT, J. Chem. Educ., 74(10), 1213 (1997)

[20] Feng X, Zhu K, Frank AJ, Grimes CA, Mallouk TE, Angew. Chem.-Int. Edit., 124(11), 2781 (2012)

[21] Liu B, Aydil ES, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 131(11), 3985 (2009)

[22] Wang H, Bai Y, Wu Q, Zhou W, Zhang H, Li J, Guo L, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 13(15), 7008 (2011)

[23] Yang JS, Liao WP, Wu JJ, ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 5(15), 7425 (2013)

[24] Li G, Richter CP, Milot RL, Cai L, Schmuttenmaer CA, Dalton Trans., 45, 10078 (2009)

[25] Baek IC, Vithal M, Chang JA, Yum JH, Nazeeruddin MK, Gratzel M, Chung YC, Seok SI, Electrochem. Commun., 11(4), 909 (2009)