Plasticized I2-free polysiloxane ionic conductors as electrolytes for stable and flexible solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells

For practical applications, flexible solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells (ss-DSSCs) with high photovoltaic performance and stability are paramount. A novel iodine (I2)-free polysiloxane based highly conductive poly(ionic liquid), which acts as the lone charge transfer intermediate, is used for first time an electrolyte in 1D TiO2 nanotube photoanodes (TiO2 NT) ss-DSSCs. The I2-free polymer plasticized ethylene carbonate (EC) leads to a higher power conversion efficiency DSSCs involving NTs than I2-based electrolyte, mainly due improved Voc Jsc. Apart from overcoming visible light absorption loss, this also reduces recombination thus electron lifetime DSSCs. displayed long-term measured under ambient accelerated testing. improvement effective pore infiltration into large pores of NT structure