Noble metal nanoparticles-induced localized surface plasmon resonance as a useful approach has been widely used in solar cells including perovskite solar cells (PSCs) to improve their light-harvesting. Herein, we synthesize Ag@SiO2 core–shell nanocubes and investigate their application in CH3NH3PbI3-based PSCs due to both the large local EM field induced by the nanocube with sharp corners and the effective avoidance of exciton/carrier recombination at the surfaces of Ag nanocubes via covering a ∼5 nm ultrathin SiO2 shell. Incorporating an appropriate concentration of Ag@SiO2 nanocubes into the CH3NH3PbI3 PSCs realizes a best-performing efficiency of 17.22% with an enhancement factor of 18.1%. Indepth studies on the plasmon-enhanced working mechanism of Ag@SiO2 nanocubes with UV–vis absorption spectra, steady-state and time-resolved transient photoluminescence, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy characterizations eventually demonstrate both the increasing light harvesting and the improving charge transportation and extraction contribute to better performances of PSCs.

No abstract

A blue organic light-emitting diode (OLED) with silica-coated silver nanocubes (Ag@SiO 2 NCs) inserted at the hole transporting layer/emission layer interface is reported. The localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) properties of the Ag@SiO 2 NCs were characterized by the measured absorption spectra, stable-stated and transient photoluminescence, and calculated dipole radiation power. The results suggest that the Ag NCs significantly improved the radiation intensity of the nearby excitons due to their sharp corners and edges, but had less impact on the radiation rate of the excitons. The exciton recombination zone in the blue OLED was confirmed by a group of devices with an ultra-thin yellow emission layer located at different places, which helped to figure out the distribution of the excitons around the Ag@SiO 2 NCs and deeply understand the coupling between the excitons and the Ag@SiO 2 NCs. In our blue OLED, an appropriate distance between the Ag NCs and the excitons was realized by the SiO 2 coating layer and the exciton distribution, which greatly improved the energy transfer between the excitons and the Ag NCs. In addition, the LSPR enhanced electric field around the Ag@SiO 2 NCs improved the carrier injection at the hole transporting layer/ emission layer interface and increased the current density of the blue OLED. Finally, the blue OLED with a simple triple layer structure achieved a high current efficiency of 51.1 cd A −1 .

No abstract