Polydopamine was utilized an adhesive interface for the uniform coating of Au nanoparticles in the pores of polydimethylsiloxane to enhance the output performance of triboelectric nanogenerators.
Solar thermoelectric (TE) generators may potentially provide a viable alternative to photovoltaic devices for producing electrical energy from renewable sources. In this approach, the conversion of solar radiation into heat is essential to enhance the performance of TE devices, which necessitates the development of efficient solar light absorbers. Metal nanoparticles (NPs) have gained much attention in this regard because they can convert light into heat via plasmon-mediated photothermal effects. In this study, porous nanocomposites comprising polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and Au NPs are prepared. In the PDMS/Au composites, the narrow extinction spectrum of Au NPs is extended over longer wavelengths by plasmonic hybridization to promote the light absorption property of the NPs. In addition, the porous structure induces strong scattering of incident light, which further enhances the absorption efficiency of the Au NPs. Consequently, the plasmon-mediated photothermal effects of Au NPs are noticeably enhanced and increased the temperature of the PDMS/Au composites to as high as 75.7 °C under artificial solar radiation, compared to 42.1 °C without the Au NPs. By applying the PDMS/Au composites to commercial TE devices, the electrical performance of the TE devices is enhanced by approximately threefold.
One-dimensional assemblies of metal nanoparticles (NPs) may represent an interesting plasmonic superstructure, in which localized surface plasmon resonance of individual NPs can be coupled to modify the strength and wavelength of extinction of metal NPs. In this study, we explored a simple method to assemble Au NPs into a linear chain by utilizing a low-dielectric solvent and salts. The aggregation states of Au NPs were engineered by the concentration of salts, which resulted in isolated and linearly assembled Au NPs. In addition, the TiO 2 shell, as a stabilizing layer, was synthesized on the surface of the isolated and assembled Au NPs by a slow hydrolysis process. Because the linearly assembled Au NPs with a TiO 2 shell had a broad extinction spectrum by plasmon hybridization, they could absorb more photons under simulated solar irradiation. As a result, the linearly assembled Au NPs with a TiO 2 shell exhibited an enhanced photothermal effect, compared with the isolated ones.
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