Optical Behavior of NH₄I Doped Cellulose Acetate Membrane for Dye Sensitized Solar Cell

The effect of ammonium iodide (NH₄I) on cellulose acetate (CA) membrane based on solid polymer electrolyte was investigated. FTIR analysis showed that the complexation was taken placed between polymer and salt to form CA-NH₄I complexes. Alternating current impedance measurement was carried out in the frequency range between 50 Hz and 1 MHz at room at elevated temperature with an applied voltage of 1V. The ionic conductivity increased up to 10-04 Scm^-1 with increasing NH₄I contents for the CA-NH₄I at room temperature. As NH₄⁺ ion concentration increase, the optical band gaps decreased. This suggests that NH₄I, as a dopant, is a good choice to improve the electrical properties of cellulose acetate polymer electrolytes. (author)