New type of inorganic–organic hybrid (heteropolytungsticacid–polyepichlorohydrin) polymer electrolyte with TiO2 nanofiller for solid state dye sensitized solar cells

Abstract A new type of inorganic–organic hybrid solid state polymer electrolyte consisting of heteropolytungsticacid impregnated polyepichlorohydrin with iodine/iodide and TiO 2 nanofiller have been prepared for their potential application in dye sensitized solar cells. The prepared polymer electrolytes were well characterized by FT-IR, Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Electrochemical Impedance analysis (EIS) and Thermal analysis (TGA). The prepared polymer electrolyte with TiO 2 nanofiller shows reasonable ionic conductivity (20.4 × 10 −6  S cm −1 ) compared to pure polyepichlorohydrin (2.0 × 10 −9  S cm −1 ) at ambient temperature. The presence of negatively charged redox species heteropolytungsticacid in the polymer matrix prevents the photo reduction of iodide (back electron transfer) and the presence of TiO 2 nanofiller increases the degree of amorphousity of the polymer which in turn prolongs the stability of the fabricated dye sensitized solar cell over a long period compared to bare polymer electrolyte.