In this paper, quasi-solid-state dye-sensitized solar cell has been constructed based on natural photosensitizers extracted from the bracts of Bougainvillea spectabilis and the leaves of Euphorbia cotinifolia using acidified (0.1 M HCl) distilled water and ethanol separately. The absorption spectra of the extracts were performed in the spectral range from 395 to 750 nm. The cells were assembled using commercial TiO 2 powder film and PEDOT coated FTO glasses as working and counter electrodes, respectively, and also the quasi-solid electrolyte sandwiched in between. The Photovoltaic parameters such as short circuit current density (J sc ), open circuit voltage (V oc ), fill factor (FF), and overall conversion efficiency (g) for the as-prepared DSSC were determined under 100 mW/ cm 2 illuminations. The highest open circuit voltage (V oc = 0.549 V) and short circuit current density (J sc = 0.592 mA/cm 2 ) were obtained from the DSSCs assembled by natural dye extracted with the acidified ethanol of Bougainvillea spectabilis bracts and the leaves of Euphorbia cotinifolia, respectively. The highest power conversation efficiency (g) of the as-prepared DSSC assembled with natural dye extracted from Bougainvillea spectabilis bracts using acidified ethanol as extracting solvent was 0.175 %. The use of Bougainvillea spectabilis and Euphorbia cotinifolia pigments as natural sensitizers along with the use of quasi-solid electrolyte and PEDOT coated FTO counter electrodes could be a possible alternative for the production of low-cost and environment friendly DSSCs.
Nowadays, addressing the drawbacks of liquid electrolyte-based batteries is a hot and challenging issue, which is supposed to be fulfilled through solid electrolyte systems such as polymer electrolytes. Polymer blend electrolytes (PBEs) are widely investigated as viable options to solve the undesired characteristics of their liquid counterparts and also the poor ionic conductivity of homopolymer-based electrolytes. Even though PBEs outperform homopolymer-based electrolytes in terms of performance, the conductivity of pristine PBEs is quite low for practical applications (i.e. below 10–3 S/cm at room temperature). A very promising approach to solve this limitation is to incorporate additives into the electrolyte systems, to select suitable polymeric materials and to employ the desired synthesizing techniques as the performance of PBEs is strongly dependent on the selection of polymeric materials (i.e. on the inherent properties of polymers), the nature and amount of salts and other additives, and also the techniques employed to synthesize the polymer blend hosts and/or polymer blend electrolytes, determining the functionality, amorphousness, dielectric constant, dimensional stability, and, ultimately, the electrochemical performances of the system. This paper reviews the different factors affecting the miscibility of polymer blends, PBEs synthesizing techniques, the thermal, chemical, mechanical and electrochemical characteristics of PBEs, and also the challenges and opportunities of PBEs. Moreover, the paper presents the current progress of polymer blend electrolytes as well as future prospects for advancing polymer blend electrolytes in the energy storage sectors.
In this study, we aimed at synthesizing polymeric materials consisting of polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) enhanced polyacrylamide (PAM) blend films and optimizing the glass transition temperature (Tg) of the synthesized polymeric blends. The PAM and PVP polymers were blended through solution casting techniques by varying PAM (0.3–1.2 g) and PVP (0.3–1 g) concentrations in parallel. The response surface methodology (RSM) experimental design, a mathematical and statistical method, was used to design the experiments, model the process, and determine the optimum concentrations of the blended films having the lowest Tg value. The polymeric blends were characterized using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) to investigate their phase transition temperatures such as their Tg. Moreover, the polymeric blends with the lowest Tg values were characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA), and UV–Vis spectroscopy to investigate the interactions existing between the parental polymers, the thermal stability, and the optical properties such as energy band gap of the parental polymers and optimized blended films respectively. It was found that Tg of the blended films was strongly dependent on the concentrations of the parental polymers, and PAM polymer exhibited a more pronounced effect on the Tg of the blended films. The Tg of the synthesized films declined when the parental polymers were blended at higher concentrations. The energy band gap and the thermal stability of the optimized blended films were lower than that of the parental polymers (i.e., 4.90 eV and 210°C). The DTG curve of the optimized blended films exhibited a maximum weight loss at 467°C. The RSM statistical analysis revealed a high regression coefficient (R2) of 0.970 for the Tg of the blended films, showing the experimental values analyzed are in good agreement with the developed model. Numerical optimization results showed that an optimum concentration of the blended films yielded the lowest Tg value of 83.63°C, which is close to the predicted Tg of 82.32°C, was achieved with 1.2 g of PAM and 1 g of PVP. The higher Tg value of the optimized blended films indicates that the polymer blends formed are highly brittle at room temperature when available in a dry state.
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