Influence of synthesized thiourea derivatives as a prolific additive with tris(1, 10-phenanthroline)cobalt(II/III)bis/tris(hexafluorophosphate)/ hydroxypropyl cellulose gel polymer electrolytes on dye-sensitized solar cells. (1st March 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Karthika, Pranavamoorthy; Ganesan, Shanmugam; Thomas, Anoopa; Sheeba Rani, Tirupathy Mathew; Prakash, Muthuramalingam
• Is Part Of: Electrochimica acta. Volume 298(2019)
• Page Start: 237
• Page End: 247
• Publication Date: 2019-03-01
• Subjects: Tris(1, 10-phenanthroline)cobalt(II)/(III)Bis/tris(hexafluorophosphate) redox couple -- Hydroxylpropyl cellulose -- Gel polymer electrolyte -- Thiourea -- TiO2 additive -- DFT -- Dye-sensitized solar cells; Electrochemistry -- Periodicals; Electrochemistry, Industrial -- Periodicals; 541.37
• DOI: 10.1016/j.electacta.2018.12.099
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0013-4686

Abstract

Abstract: An exceptional approach of appending tris(1, 10-phenanthroline)cobalt(II)/(III)bis/tris(hexafluorophosphate) and synthesized tetramethyl benzidine-based thiourea derivatives as novel additives with hydroxypropyl cellulose are used to construct a gel polymer electrolyte for DSSC. The thiourea derivatives are synthesized using the cost-effective method. The synthesized derivatives are confirmed by 1 H, 13 C NMR and mass spectroscopy. The conductivity, surface and redox potential of thiourea derivatives doped Co 2+/ Co 3+ redox electrolytes are scrutinized by impedance spectra, FTIR, UV, XRD. A density functional theory method with full geometry optimization is used to elucidate the adsorption of the symmetrical thiocarbamides on TiO2 (101) surface progressing with electron donating/accepting groups. All the organic compounds display a negative shift on the TiO2 Fermi level simultaneously by adsorption and rebutted as an escalated additive in stable Co(II/III)phen redox electrolyte of the dye-sensitized TiO2 solar cell. This impulse effect influences the sorbate dipole moment component normal to TiO2 surface plane; further, the stable redox mediator and hydroxypropyl cellulose deliver a good performance in a dye-sensitized solar cell. The newly synthesized thiourea derivatives doped Co 2+/ Co 3+ with hydroxypropyl cellulose reports high solar to electric conversion, particularly1, 1'-(3, 3′, 5, 5′-tetramethyl-[1, 1′-biphenyl]-4, 4′-diyl)bis(3-(3, 4, 5-trimethoxy phenyl)thiourea) (additive-6) doped redox electrolyte shows an outstanding efficiency (ŋ) of9.1% under the sunlight irradiation of about70 mW/cm 2 . Graphical abstract: Highlights: Introduction of coherent hydroxypropyl cellulose for gel polymer electrolyte. Simple and cost-effective synthesis of thiourea. Thioureas behave as a systematic additive on TiO2 (101). Gel polymer electrolyte facilitates enhanced electrical conductivity. The gel polymer electrolyte with thiourea based DSSC shows good performance and high photovoltaic conversion 9.1%.