Electrospun polymethylacrylate nanofibers membranes for quasi-solid-state dye sensitized solar cells
By M. Fathy and A.B. Kashyout and J. El Nady and Sh. Ebrahim and M.B. Soliman
Published in Alexandria Engineering Journal
2016
Abstract
Polymethylacrylate (PMA) nanofibers membranes are fabricated by electrospinning technique and applied to the polymer matrix in quasi-solid-state electrolytes for dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). There is no previous studies reporting the production of \PMA\ nanofibers. The electrospinning parameters such as polymer concentration, applied voltage, feed rate, tip to collector distance and solvent were optimized. Electrospun \PMA\ fibrous membrane with average fiber diameter of 350 nm was prepared from a 10 wt% solution of \PMA\ in a mixture of acetone/N,N-dimethylacetamide (6:4 v/v) at an applied voltage of 20 kV. It was then activated by immersing it in 0.5 M LiI, 0.05 M I2, and 0.5 M 4-tert-butylpyridine in 3-methoxyproponitrile to obtain the corresponding membrane electrolyte with an ionic conductivity of 2.4