Fabrication of titanium dioxide nanoparticle-doped polymer electrolytes for dye-sensitized solar cell modules: self-powered internet of things applications

This paper explores the integration of Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell modules with Internet of Things applications, emphasizing their potential to provide sustainable, self-powered solutions. This research highlights the potential of nano titanium dioxide infused polymer electrolytes as a promising approach for advancing Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell technology, paving the way for more efficient, durable, and cost-effective solar energy harvesting systems. The prepared electrolytes are systematically investigated for their electrical conductivity, degree of crystallinity, charge transfer resistance, photovoltaic parameters, and surface roughness. The polymer electrolyte with10 wt% nano TiO2 particle shows a maximum electrical conductivity of 0.658 S cm−1 at 313 K. The highest Ea value for the optimised sample (S2) is 0.689 kJ mol−1, indicating enhanced charge carrier transport kinetics. 10 wt % of nano-TiO2 based polymer electrolytes exhibited a smaller Rct1 (3.010 Ω cm2), Rct2 (3.459 Ω cm2) and Rs (4.823 Ω cm2) compared to the other TiO2 doped polymer electrolytes. The Atomic force microscopy analysis revealed that the average roughness value of optimised sample S2 is 22.616 nm. The optimized Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell exhibit an enhanced photo-conversion efficiency of 4.67 ± 0.05% under 100 mW cm−2 illumination, making them suitable for sustainable IoT applications such as autonomous sensors and low-power embedded systems. Additionally, the DSSC module was integrated with an Internet of Things system that measured temperature and moisture. The user received the device’s output through an Android Smartphone App within 0.33 s. This work highlights the potential of nano-engineered polymer electrolytes in advancing DSSC technology for next-generation green energy solutions.