A hybrid poly(ethylene oxide)/poly(vinylidene fluoride)/TiO2 nanoparticle solid-state redox electrolyte for dye-sensitized nanocrystalline solar cells

High-efficiency all-solid-state dye-sensitized nanocrystalline solar cells have been fabricated using a poly(ethylene oxide)/poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PEO/PVDF)/TiO2-nanoparticle polymer redox electrolyte, which yields an overall energy-conversion efficiency of about 4.8% under irradiation by white light (65.2 mW cm(-2)). The introduction of PVDF (which contains the highly electronegative element fluorine) and TiO2 nanoparticles into the PEO electrolyte increases the ionic conductivity (by about two orders of magnitude) and effectively reduces the recombination rate at the interface of the TiO2 and the solid-state electrolyte, thus enhancing the performance of the solar cell.