Carbon Nanotube (CNT)–Polymethyl Methacrylate (PMMA) Composite Electrolyte for Solid-State Dye Sensitized Solar Cells

A novel carbon nanotube (CNT)–polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) composite electrolyte was successfully synthesized by the thermal polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) with CNTs for solid-state dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The prepared CNTs–PMMA composite electrolytes were characterized by Fourior transformed-infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and ionic conductivity. A strong bonding was observed between CNT and PMMA through ester bonding in the CNT–PMMA composite, resulting in the lowering of crystallinity and increasing the ionic conductivity of composite electrolyte. DSSCs fabricated with CNTs–PMMA composite electrolytes achieved relatively high conversion efficiency of 2.9% with an open circuit voltage (V_OC) of 0.567 volt, short circuit current (I_SC) of 8.9 mA/cm² and fill factor of 61.8%, which is attributed to enhanced amorphicity and ionic conductivity due to the formation of strong bonding between CNT and PMMA molecules.