New approach for preparation of efficient solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells by photoelectrochemical polymerization in aqueous micellar solution

Hereby, we present a new, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly method of preparing an efficient solid-state dye-sensitized solar cell (sDSC) using a PEDOT conducting polymer as the hole conductor and a recently developed organic sensitizer. PEDOT is generated and deposited on the dye-sensitized TiO₂ electrode by in situ photoelectropolymerization of bis-EDOT in aqueous micellar solution. The advantages of this approach are the use of water as the solvent and the obtainment of a sDSC simply by adding a silver layer on the as-obtained polymer film deposited on dye/TiO₂ without the need for electrolytic solution. The sDSC containing the film prepared as above is compared to those where the organic dye is used to generate the same polymer film but in organic solvent. The energy conversion efficiency values of the two cells appear comparable, 4.8% for sDSC prepared in the aqueous-phase polymerized PEDOT and 6% for the sDSC prepared with in organic-phase polymerized PEDOT.