Effect of electrolyte bleaching on the stability and performance of dye solar cells

Degradation of dye solar cells (DSCs) under severe ageing conditions may lead to loss of the tri-iodide in the electrolyte – a phenomenon known as electrolyte bleaching. Monitoring changes in the tri-iodide concentration as a result of degradation mechanisms and understanding their causes and effects are fundamental for improving the long-term stability of DSCs. In this contribution a strongly accelerated ageing test (1 Sun visible light, 1.5 Suns UV light, T = 110 °C for 12 h) was performed on DSCs in a double-sealed masterplate configuration to purposely induce severe electrolyte bleaching, and its effects on the performance and stability of DSCs with different initial tri-iodide concentrations [I3−]0 were investigated. The cells with low [I3−]0 suffered a severe loss in short circuit current density JSC (up to 85%). Also a significant loss of open circuit voltage VOC was observed and this loss was proportional to [I3−]0 with the highest VOC drop observed with the highest [I3−]0. Non-destructive analysis techniques based on the limited current density, JSCvs. light intensity, and photographic image analysis, were used to quantify the [I3−] loss, which was found to be ca. 50 mM and independent of [I3−]0. Quantitative model based VOC analysis in terms of changing [I3−] revealed that the degradation responsible for the VOC drop was dominated by an unknown mechanism that is unrelated to [I3−]0. The methods and results reported here help separating and identifying different degradation mechanisms related to electrolyte bleaching in DSCs.