A UV-curable silicon monomer introduced in a polymer electrolyte modifies electrodes/electrolyte interfaces in DSSCs

The conversion of solar energy by photovoltaic effect is the most quoted reality in the world of renewable resources. 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. We have recently proposed polymer electrolyte membranes as a promising strategy to solve the poor long-term stability of standard liquid-state DSSCs. Membranes were prepared by a rapid, energy-saving and environment friendly technique of light-induced polymerization, that can find an appropriate location also in the nascent industrial production plants of third generation photovoltaic cells. In this work, we propose a combined (photo)electrochemical/XPS investigation of the TiO2- and Pt-based electrodes interfaces with a polymer electrolyte membrane whose surface composition has been enriched with a Si-based monomer. The improvement of photovoltaic performance and long-term stability will be showed, emphasizing the positive effect of the gradient-tailored composition of the photopolymer electrolyte.