Plasmon-Induced Broadband Light-Harvesting for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells Using a Mixture of Gold Nanocrystals.
The efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) is generally limited by the mismatch between the absorption spectrum of the photosensitizer and the solar irradiation spectrum. This work describes the use of a mixture that containing proper proportions of SiO2 coated Au nanospheres (AuNSs@SiO2 ) and Au nanorods (AuNRs@SiO2 ) (the mixture was denoted as AuNCs@SiO2 ) to enhance the sunlight utility in DSSCs. The incorporation of AuNCs@SiO2 into the TiO2 photoanode induced broadband light-harvesting at both low- and long- wavelengths and thus enhanced the photocurrent compared to that of plasmonic solar cells based on either AuNSs@SiO2 or AuNRs@SiO2 . Upon the doping of AuNCs@SiO2 , the overall power conversion efficiency (PCE) increased from 7.39 to 9.12 % for DSSCs based on organic liquid electrolytes.
Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Soochow University, Suzhou, 215123, P.R. China.
Ye
Y
Zhang
Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Soochow University, Suzhou, 215123, P.R. China.
Zhe
Z
Sun
Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Soochow University, Suzhou, 215123, P.R. China. fyan@suda.edu.cn.
Si
S
Cheng
Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Soochow University, Suzhou, 215123, P.R. China. chengsi@suda.edu.cn.
Feng
F
Yan
D004396:Coloring Agents / Q000737:chemistry*; D004566:Electrodes; D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry*; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D043942:Nanotubes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000648:ultrastructure; D009942:Organometallic Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*; D010984:Platinum / Q000737:chemistry; D012822:Silicon Dioxide / Q000737:chemistry*; D012993:Solar Energy; D013472:Sunlight; D013861:Thiocyanates / Q000737:chemistry*; D014025:Titanium / Q000737:chemistry*
D004396:Coloring Agents; D009942:Organometallic Compounds; D013861:Thiocyanates; C506095:bis(2,2'-bipyridyl-4,4'-dicarboxylate)ruthenium(II) bis(tetrabutylammonium) bis(thiocyanate); C009495:titanium dioxide; D010984:Platinum; D006046:Gold; D012822:Silicon Dioxide; D014025:Titanium
energy conversion; gold; nanoparticles; photochemistry; surface plasmon resonance