Ionic liquid electrolytes based on 1-vinyl-3-alkylimidazolium iodides for dye-sensitized solar cells

Five new ionic liquids of 1-vinyl-3-alkylimidazolium iodide were synthesized to develop novel electrolytes for dye-sensitized solar cells. The effects of photovoltaic characteristics of the cell and the ionic liquid features such as viscosity and ionic conductivity were described. The 1-vinyl-3-alkylimidazolium cation volume was calculated by quantum chemistry method. The linear dependence of photon-to-current conversion efficiency on the non-solvated cation volume was revealed. After lithium iodide was added to 1-vinyl-3-alkylimidazolium salts as electrolytes, except the photovoltage, the photocurrent, fill factor and photon-to-current efficiency were improved correspondingly.