Effect of iodine intercalation in nanosized layered double hydroxides for the preparation of quasi-solid electrolyte in DSSC devices

A nanosized layered double hydroxide (n-LDH) was intercalated with growing amount of iodine and the resulting materials used as additives for the preparation of quasi-solid electrolytes for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC). The influence of the amount of iodine on solar cell performances was tested by dispersing 5 wt% of intercalated LDH in a methoxypropionitrile-based liquid electrolyte and using the obtained dispersion for DSSC assembly. The electrochemical characterization of the devices showed that the addition of increasing amount of iodine intercalated LDH has a positive effect on solar cell photoenergy conversion. In addition, time stability of devices prepared with non-liquid electrolyte were taken into consideration. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.