ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

Development of polymer electrolyte based on graphite/MWNTs fillers for sustainable dye-sensitized solar cell

Kumari Pooja, Anant P. Pandey, Kalpana Awasthi, Mridula Tripathi, and Priyanka Chawla

Department of Chemistry, CMP Degree College, University of Allahabad, Prayagraj, India

E-mail: ccmpau@gmail.com

Received: 18 May 2022  Accepted: 17 August 2022

Abstract:

We investigated the use of graphite as primary filler and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) as secondary filler in chitosan-based polymer electrolyte film which aided in increasing the electrical conductivity of the prepared film. The addition of a small amount of MWNTs as secondary filler increased the A.C. conductivity from 2.6 \(\times\) 10^–4 to 1.4 \(\times\) 10⁻³ S/cm due to the formation of conductive layers by it. The co-sensitized dye obtained from pomegranate and moss (1:1) is evaluated for the fabrication of dye-sensitized solar cells. In place of nanostructured TiO₂-based photoanode, we admixed TiO₂ with indium oxide (In₂O₃) to improve the spectral response of TiO₂ for obtaining better efficiency. The use of this polymer electrolyte film along with co-sensitized natural dye and admixed photoanode helped in the fabrication of a highly efficient dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) with around 3.8% efficiency.

Keywords: Dye-sensitized solar cell; Co-sensitized dye; Chitosan; Graphite; Multi-wall carbon nanotubes

Full paper is available at www.springerlink.com.

DOI: 10.1007/s11696-022-02439-y

Chemical Papers 76 (12) 7623–7632 (2022)