A Systematic Investigation of Permeation Barriers for Flexible Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

• Published in: Energy technology (Weinheim, Germany) Vol. 4; no. 11; pp. 1455 - 1462
• Main Authors: De Rossi, Francesca, Mincuzzi, Girolamo, Di Giacomo, Francesco, Fahlteich, John, Amberg-Schwab, Sabine, Noller, Klaus, Brown, Thomas M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Weinheim Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-11-2016; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Barriers; Bleaching; Degradation; Dye-sensitized solar cells; Dyes; Electrolytic cells; Encapsulation; energy conversion; Indium tin oxides; nanotechnology; Penetration; Permeation; Photovoltaic cells; Polymers; Solar cells; stability; Substrates
• ISSN: 2194-4288; 2194-4296
• DOI: 10.1002/ente.201600244

Dye solar cells (DSCs), in their flexible form, are prone to ageing due to ingress of gas as a result of the intrinsic permeability of polymer substrates. Thus, it is important to develop proper encapsulation strategies to limit degradation. Literature on flexible DSCs lacks comparative tests with different permeation barriers, including flexible ultrahigh barriers (UHB). We designed such tests and applied UHBs to flexible DSCs for the first time. We demonstrate that UHBs double the lifetime of cells with respect to those with none or less‐effective barriers. Degradation is due to a combination of electrolyte bleaching, dye detachment, and indium tin oxide (ITO) degradation. The reduced, though still noticeable, performance loss for UHB‐ and glass‐equipped cells can be mainly ascribed to lateral permeation of gas/water, suggesting that efficient solutions for edge encapsulation must be developed to extend lifetimes further.
Ultrahigh barriers for flexible dye‐sensitized solar cells: Both shelf‐life and accelerated‐light‐soaking tests are performed to evaluate different barriers to gas/water permeation for dye solar cells. Ultrahigh barriers improve device stability by 33 % compared to other barriers, doubling the lifetime of the cells. The reduced, though still noticeable, performance loss is due to lateral permeation. Efficient solutions for edge encapsulation must be developed to extend lifetimes further.