New type of inorganic–organic hybrid (heteropolytungsticacid–polyepichlorohydrin) polymer electrolyte with TiO2 nanofiller for solid state dye sensitized solar cells

A new type of inorganic–organic hybrid solid state polymer electrolyte consisting of heteropolytungsticacid impregnated polyepichlorohydrin with iodine/iodide and TiO2 nanofiller have been prepared for their potential application in dye sensitized solar cells. The prepared polymer electrolytes were well characterized by FT-IR, Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Electrochemical Impedance analysis (EIS) and Thermal analysis (TGA). The prepared polymer electrolyte with TiO2 nanofiller shows reasonable ionic conductivity (20.4 × 10−6 S cm−1) compared to pure polyepichlorohydrin (2.0 × 10−9 S cm−1) at ambient temperature. The presence of negatively charged redox species heteropolytungsticacid in the polymer matrix prevents the photo reduction of iodide (back electron transfer) and the presence of TiO2 nanofiller increases the degree of amorphousity of the polymer which in turn prolongs the stability of the fabricated dye sensitized solar cell over a long period compared to bare polymer electrolyte.