Search / Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering
Korean Chemical Engineering Research,
Vol.57, No.3, 392-399, 2019
Pore Size Control of a Highly Transparent Interfacial Layer via a Polymer-assisted Approach for Dye-sensitized Solar Cells
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.
[References]
  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