Journal of Power Sources, Vol.274, 304-309, 2015
An avenue of sealing liquid electrolyte in flexible dye-sensitized solar cells
Storage of liquid electrolyte has been a persistent objective for liquid-state flexible dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). We present here the feasibility of rear-irradiated flexible DSSC comprising of groove stored dye-sensitized TiO2 on a Ti foil and conductive plastic supported transparent cobalt selenide alloy counter electrode. After being injected into the groove, the liquid electrolyte containing I-/I-3(-) redox couples can be well sealed. The flexible cells are optimized by adjusting groove depth and stoichiometry of cobalt selenide electrodes, generating a maximum power conversion efficiency of 7.52% under one sun irradiation. The research demonstrates some new insights on how to improve liquid electrolyte retention and elevate photovoltaic performances of flexible DSSCs. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords:Flexible dye-sensitized solar cell;Liquid electrolyte storage;Transparent counter electrode;Cobalt selenide alloy