This study reports the characteristics of gel-type dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), fabricated with gel-type electrolyte containing poly-1,1'-(methylenedi-4,1-phenylene) bismaleimide (PBMI), or poly-1,1'-(3,3'-dimethyl- 1,10-biphenyl-4,4'-diyl) bismaleimide (PDBBMI), or poly-N,N'-(4-methyl-1,3-phenylene)bismaleimide (PMPBMI), prepared by in situ polymerization of the corresponding monomer without an initiator at 30 degrees C. Incorporating 0.3 wt % content of exfoliated alkyl-modified nanomica (EAMNM) into PBMI-gelled electrolyte leads to higher short-circuit current density (J(sc) = 17.14 mA cm(-2)) and efficiency (eta = 7.02%) than that of neat PBMI-gel electrolyte (J(sc) = 15.32 mA cm(-2), eta = 6.41%). Incorporating 0.3 wt % EAMNM into PBMI-gelled electrolyte results in remarkably stable device performance under continuous light soaking under one sun (100 mW cm(-2)) at 55 degrees C. The efficiency of DSSCs based on PBMI/0.3 wt % EAMNM-gelled electrolyte drops by only 1.7% (eta = 6.93%) after 500 h of continuous light soaking. (C) 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 48: 4950-4957, 2010