Development of a conjugated polyaniline incorporated electrospun poly(vinylidene fluoride‐co‐hexafluoropropylene) composite membrane electrolyte for high performance dye‐sensitized solar cells |
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| Authors: | Vijayakumar Elayappan Vignesh Murugadoss Subramania Angaiah Zhaofu Fei Paul J. Dyson |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Electrochemical Energy Research Lab, Centre for Nanoscience and Technology, Pondicherry University, Puducherry, India;2. Institut des Sciences et Ingénierie Chimiques, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland |
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| Abstract: | Different weight percentage (2, 3, 4, and 5 wt %) of polyaniline (PANI) were incorporated into electrospun poly(vinylidene fluoride‐co‐hexafluoropropylene) (PVdF‐HFP) composite membranes (esCPMs). The regular morphology, molecular structure, crystallinity, porosity, electrolyte uptake, and leakage of the composite membranes were examined. The esCPMs were activated in liquid electrolyte containing 0.5 M LiI, 0.05 M I2, and 0.5 M 4‐tert‐butylpyridine and 0.5 M 1‐butyl‐3‐methylimidazoliun iodide in acetonitrile to afford electrospun PVdF‐HFP/PANI composite membrane electrolytes (esCPMEs). The influence of different wt % of PANI on the esCPMEs was studied by electrochemical impedance measurements and Tafel polarization studies. The photovoltaic performance of a dye‐sensitized solar cell assembled using 3 wt % PANI incorporated esCPME exhibits a higher power conversion efficiency of 7.20% than that assembled using esPME (η = 6.42%). © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015 , 132, 42777. |
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| Keywords: | composites electrochemistry fibers membranes photochemistry |
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