title: Efficient plasmonic dye-sensitized solar cells with fluorescent Au-encapsulated C-dots.
abstract: A simple strategy to improve the efficiency of a ZnO-nanorod-based dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) by use of Au-encapsulated carbon dots (Au@C-dots) in the photoanode is presented. The localized surface plasmonic resonance of Au in the 500-550 nm range coupled with the ability of C-dots to undergo charge separation increase the energy-harvesting efficiency of the DSSC with ZnO/N719/Au@C-dots photoanodes. Charge transfer from N719 dye to Au@C-dots is confirmed by fluorescence and lifetime enhancements of Au@C-dots. Forster resonance energy transfer (FRET) from the gap states of ZnO nanorods to N719 dye is also ratified and the energy transfer rate is 4.4×10(8) s(-1) and the Forster radius is 1.89 nm. The overall power conversion efficiency of the plasmonic and FRET-enabled DSSC with ZnO/N719/Au@C-dots as the photoanode, I2/I(-) as the electrolyte and multiwalled carbon nanotubes as the counter electrode is 4.1%, greater by 29% compared to a traditional ZnO/N719 cell.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad, Ordnance Factory Estate, Yedduaram-502205, Andhra Pradesh (India).
authors.forename: Remya
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Narayanan
authors.forename: Melepurath
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Deepa
authors.forename: Avanish Kumar
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Srivastava
authors.forename: Sonnada Math
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Shivaprasad
keywords: electron transfer; energy transfer; photoluminescence; solar cells; surface plasmon resonance