Towards flexible DSSCs combining vertically aligned TiO2 nanotubes array and UV-cured polymer networks

One of the possible applications of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) is the biasing of low-power portable devices. In this framework, the cells should be flexible and adaptable to complex shapes. Therefore, it is necessary to prepare suitable electrodic and electrolytic materials. Here we report for the first time the combination of a methacrylic crosslinked polymer electrolyte membrane (whose polymeric network has been deeply characterized by charge-transfer measurements and dynamo-mechanical analysis) and vertically oriented TiO2 nanotubes grown by anodic oxidation of flexible Ti mesh in order to fabricate a flexible and transparent DSSC. The photovoltaic behavior was exhaustively investigated by electrical measurements and impedance spectroscopy. To the state-of-the-art, the appropriate selection and optimization of all the materials allowed us to obtain the most efficient quasi-solid flexible DSSC ever produced.