Synthesis of Polyvinyl Acetate /Graphene Nanocomposite and its Application as an Electrolyte in Dye Sensitized Solar Cells

Abstract Liquid based electrolytes used in dye synthesized solar cells (DSSCs) have stability issues due to leakage and volatilization of organic solvents. To overcome this problem, many researchers focused on alternatives such as solid and gel based electrolytes. However, due to less ionic conductivity, gel based electrolytes are less efficient as compared to liquid electrolytes. In this work, polyvinyl acetate (PVAc)/graphene nanocomposite based gel electrolyte is synthesized for the first time using in-situ polymerization technique to enhance the efficiency of the solar cell. The prepared nanocomposite is characterized by using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffractometer (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and solar simulator techniques. The results of the I-V curve revealed the increased photocurrent density (JSC) of the prepared nanocomposite based gel electrolyte as compared to its counterpart. The values for short circuit photocurrent density (JSC), open circuit voltage (VOC) and fill factor (FF) of the nanocomposite based gel electrolyte are 6.62 mA cm-2, 0.64 V and 43% respectively, yielding an overall photovoltaic conversion efficiencies (PCE) of 4.57 %, which is more than the efficiency ( η  = 4.35 %) of referenced PVAc gel electrolyte based DSSC and comparable to the efficiency ( η  = 4.75 %) of liquid electrolyte based DSSC. Finally, Electron impedance spectroscopic studies have been conducted to understand the electron transfer kinetics.