An avenue of sealing liquid electrolyte in flexible dye-sensitized solar cells.

Storage of liquid electrolyte has been a persistent objective for liquid-state flexible dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). We present here the feasibility of rear-irradiated flexible DSSC comprising of groove stored dye-sensitized TiO 2 on a Ti foil and conductive plastic supported transparent cobalt selenide alloy counter electrode. After being injected into the groove, the liquid electrolyte containing I − /I 3 − redox couples can be well sealed. The flexible cells are optimized by adjusting groove depth and stoichiometry of cobalt selenide electrodes, generating a maximum power conversion efficiency of 7.52% under one sun irradiation. The research demonstrates some new insights on how to improve liquid electrolyte retention and elevate photovoltaic performances of flexible DSSCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]