The effect of γ-ray-irradiated conducting polymer electrolyte and its application of dye-sensitized solar cells to building window glass system

In the present study, γ-ray-irradiated and un-irradiated PVA/PPy/KI/I${}_2$ conducting polymer electrolytes have been prepared for dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC). The conducting polymer electrolyte was prepared by solution cast technique. The degree of crystallinity of both the γ-ray-irradiated and un-irradiated samples has been studied using X-ray diffraction (XRD), and the studies show that γ-ray irradiation increases the amorphous nature. The band gap energy, Urbach's energy, and no. of carbon in a cluster were determined from the UV–visible spectra. An electrical conductivity of all the samples has been analyzed by four-probe method, and it shows an increase in the electrical conductivity of γ-ray-irradiated samples. The EIS measurement revealed that the γ-ray-irradiated electrolyte possessed excellent electro-catalytic activity and low R${}_{ct1}$ at the CE/electrolyte interface. A significant improvement in the photo-conversion efficiency of γ-ray-irradiated polymer electrolyte in DSSC by 4.53% was also observed. This proves to be better and efficient DSSCs for building window glass system. Moreover, the stability tests indicated that ~ 80% of the initial efficiency was persistent after the long-term stability of 450 h.