The photovoltaic performances of PVdF-HFP electrospun membranes employed quasi-solid-state dye sensitized solar cells

The PVdF-HFP nanofiber membranes with different molecular weight were prepared by electrospinning technique and were investigated as solid state electrolyte membranes in quasi solid state dye sensitized solar cells (QS-DSSC). The homogeneously distributed and fully interconnected nanofibers were obtained for all of the prepared PVdF-HFP electrospun membranes and the average fiber diameters of fabricated membranes were dependent upon the molecular weight of polymer. The thermal stability of electrospun PVdF-HFP membrane was decreased with a decrement of molecular weight, specifying the high heat transfer area of small diameter nanofibers. The QS-DSSC fabricated with the lower molecular weight PVdF-HFP electrospun nanofiber membrane exhibited the power conversion efficiency of η = 5.38%, which is superior over the high molecular weight membranes and is comparable with the liquid electrolyte. Furthermore, the electrospun PVdF-HFP membrane exhibited long-term durability over the liquid electrolyte, owing to the higher adsorption and retention efficiencies of liquid electrolyte in its highly porous and interconnected nanofibers. Thus the proposed electrospun PVdF-HFP membrane effectively tackled the volatilization and leakage of liquid electrolyte and provided good photoconversion efficiency associated with an excellent stability, which constructs the prepared electrospun membranes as credible solid state candidates for the application of QS-DSSCs.