Light cured polymer electrolytes for dye-sensitized solar cells with unconventional redox couples

As a feasible option for photovoltaic technology to meet the growing energy demand, dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) have attracted much attention due to their low cost, ease of fabrication and good performance. In this context, we have recently proposed polymer electrolyte membranes as a promising strategy to solve poor long-term stability of standard liquid-state DSSC. Membranes were prepared by a rapid, energy-saving and environment friendly technique of photopolymerization, that can find an appropriate location also in the nascent industrial production plants of third generation photovoltaic cells. The evaluation of the photoelectrochemical, structural, and physicochemical characteristics of these electrolytes will be thoroughly discussed. Furthermore, we will present the in situ photopolymerization in the presence of an original SeCN-/(SeCN)2 redox mediator: this process, hardly feasible for the traditional I-/I3- couple (inhibitor of radical polymerization processes), enables at the same time the creation of an excellent electrode/electrolyte interface and the sealing of the device.