Preparation of alginate-KI/I₂ composite as an electrolyte gel on dye sensitized solar cell (DSSC)

The electrolyte gel preparation from natural polymers has been made as a component of Dye Sensitized solar cells (DSSC). Electrolyte gel is made from a mixture of alginate, potassium iodide (KI) and Iodine (I₂) with a solvent casting method. Alginate gel is used as a matrix to bind KI/I₂ solutions which act as electrolytes. In this study, KI/I₂ electrolyte solution was made with a ratio of 10:1 then added alginate gel. To study the effect of the concentration of electrolyte solution on the electrolyte gel made by varying the amount of KI salt 10; 20; 30; 40 and 50%. In this study also studied the effect of polymer composites on the manufacture of electrolyte gels carried out by mixing alginate/PVA; Alginate/PEG and alginate/PVA/PEG. Based on the cyclic voltammetry data, the alginate-KI/I₂ composite showed an oxidation and a reduction peak. This shows the occurrence of the redox cycle in the alginate-KI/I₂ composite so that it can act as an electron flow mediator in the DSSC system. The effect of the amount of KI salt on the electrolyte gel shows the difference in the redox peak current produced. The highest peak current is obtained by adding KI salt 50% which is 2.5 mA. FTIR spectra data show the presence of carbonyl groups (C=O) and ether groups (C-O-C) which prove the occurrence of complexation between alginates and KI/I₂ salts.