Aug. 10, 2015

Iranian researchers from University of Kashan studied the effects of using phosphate electrolyte additives with commercial titanium dioxide nanoparticles on the production of dye-sensitized solar cells.

The electrolyte additives increase the efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells.
Solar energy is one of the sustainable energies, which is available, free and harmless to the environment. Therefore, solar cells can be considered as green and non-hazardous power sources. The main objective of the research was to optimize electrolyte systems in organic dye-sensitized solar cells by using new electrolyte additives. Therefore, all parts of dye-sensitized solar cells were produced at first, and their performances were compared to those of the existing commercial samples. The obtained results were very promising.
Triphenyl phosphate was used in this research as electrolyte additive. This material was used as a substitute for the expensive and toxic tertio butyl pyridine in the electrolyte solution. According to the researchers, results showed that the addition of this material to the electrolyte modifies the performance of dye-sensitized solar cell. This fact increases the efficiency and decreases the costs.
In this research, commercial titanium oxide nanoparticles (P25) were used as semi-conductive bed in the photo-anode. Electrolyte-optimized systems modified the voltage and current of solar cells in addition to nanoparticles. The nanoparticles are a bed for the sorption of dyes and they receive electrons in the dye and enter them into the electrical circuit of the cell.