Ionic liquid-tethered Graphene Oxide/Ionic Liquid Electrolytes for Highly Efficient Dye Sensitized Solar Cells

Ionic liquid-tethered graphene oxide (IL-GO) are prepared by tethering 1-(3-aminopropyl)-3-methylimi-dazolium bromide to graphene oxide (GO), and followed by anion-exchange with bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide ions (TFSI−). Environmental friendly ionic liquid-based composite electrolyte for dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) without volatile organic solvents is prepared from IL-GO and 1-propyl-3-methylimidazolium iodide (PMII). Incorporation of proper amount of IL-GO significantly increased the conductivity of the electrolyte, the open circuit voltage, the short circuit current density and the conversion efficiency of DSSCs. The dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) containing 4 wt% of IL-GO composite electrolytes show an overall power conversion efficiency of 7.04% under simulated AM 1.5 solar spectrum irradiation at 100 mW cm−2. These results indicate that the DSSCs based on IL-GO/IL composite electrolytes could overcome the drawbacks of volatile liquid electrolytes, and offer a feasible method to fabricate DSSCs in future practical applications.