Photo-polymerization of acrylic/methacrylic gel-polymer electrolyte membranes for dye-sensitized solar cells

We report on the synthesis and characterization of new acrylic/methacrylic-based gel-polymer electrolyte membranes for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The electrolyte membranes were prepared by the UV-curing process, which is well known for being easy, fast, low cost, and reliable. An accurate characterization of electrolytes and DSSCs allowed us to identify an interesting correlation between the crosslink density of the polymer networks and the photovoltaic performance of the solar cells. Furthermore, the effect of addition of iodine salts in the reactive mixtures was investigated, and light-to-electricity conversion efficiencies higher than 3% were obtained.