Electrospun Microfibrous Membranes with Atmospheric‐ P ressure Plasma Surface Modification for the Application in Dye‐ S ensitized Solar Cells

Electrospun poly(vinylidenefluoride‐co‐hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF‐HFP) microfibrous membrane was modified by cyclonic atmospheric‐pressure plasma in this work. The gas‐phase temperature of plasma state was <90°C, indicating that this plasma could treat electrospun PVDF‐HFP membrane without heat damages. Surface properties of the plasma‐modified electrospun PVDF‐HFP membranes were examined by the static contact angle (CA) analysis. It was observed that such cyclonic atmospheric‐pressure plasma was useful in electrospun PVDF‐HFP membrane surface modification; for example, the water CA was reduced from 137 to <30° with only 1 min treatment time. Field‐emission scanning electron microscopy was used to determine the changes in surface features of the electrospun PVDF‐HFP membrane after plasma treatment. A dye‐sensitized solar cell (DSSC) fabricated with the plasma‐modified electrospun PVDF‐HFP membrane electrolyte revealed good conversion efficiency. This work proved that surface modification of the electrospun PVDF‐HFP microfibrous membrane by cyclonic atmospheric‐pressure plasma was an innovative method for DSSC applications.