A Study of the Use of Fluorine-Containing UV-Curable Adhesives to Seal Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells for Long-Term Thermal Stability

To improve long-term stability and maintain the performance of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), we studied fluorine-containing UV-curable adhesives to seal DSSCs. The sealants were made of UV-curable adhesives and different functional groups of fluorine-containing monomers, such as 2,2,2-trifluoroethyl methacrylate (TFM), 1H,1H,9H-perfluoro-1-nonanol (PFN), and 2-(perfluorohexyl) ethyl methacrylate (PFEM). We used scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to analyze the surface morphologies of the cured adhesives. The fluorine-containing UV-curable adhesives prepared using the PFN monomer as the sealant produced efficiencies for the DSSCs that were greater than those of the other monomers. Sealing the DSSCs with a blank adhesive mixed with 3.0 wt% of the PFN monomer (PFN-UV) resulted in an efficiency of 4.9% after they had undergone long-term thermal stability tests at 65 degrees C for 37 days.