Facile synthesis of Au@TiO₂ nanocomposite and its application as a photoanode in dye-sensitized solar cells

Abstract

In the present investigation, gold-decorated TiO 2 (Au@TiO 2 ) plasmonic nanocomposite materials were successfully prepared through a simple one-step chemical reduction method without using any stabilizer or surfactant. These materials were then used as efficient photoanodes in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC). The prepared nanocomposite materials were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) mapping, Xray diffraction (XRD), photoluminescence (PL) and Raman analyses. The DSSC assembled with the Au@TiO 2 -modified photoanode demonstrated an enhanced solar-to-electrical energy conversion efficiency of 5.61%, which was higher than the unmodified TiO 2 photoanode (2.55%) under full sunlight illumination (100 mW cm À2 , AM 1.5 G). This enhanced efficiency is mainly attributed to the plasmonic effect, reduction in the band gap energy, improved interfacial charge transfer, and retarded charge recombination process. The influence of the Au content on the overall efficiency was also investigated, and the optimum Au content with TiO 2 was found to be 2.5 wt%. The significant improvement in the solar energy conversion efficiency with the Au@TiO 2 -plasmonic nanocomposite showed its potential as a photoanode for high-efficiency DSSC.

In-Situ Hydrothermal Synthesis of Bi–Bi2O2CO3 Heterojunction Photocatalyst with Enhanced Visible Light Photocatalytic Activity

“…No characteristic peak for Bi nanoparticles in Bi–Bi 2 O 2 CO 3 was observed, probably due to low content of Bi. Similar results were reported in previously literatures based on metal/semiconductor photocatalyst [35, 45, 46]. As shown in Fig.…”

N/Al‐Incorporated TiO2Nanocompositesfor Improved Device Performance of aDye‐Sensitized Solar Cell

“…The maximum frequency varies inversely with electron lifetime, τ n =1/2πf, and these frequencies as shown in Figure 6 (iv) correspond to τ n values 0.096, 0.24 and 2.3 ms for un‐doped TiO 2 , N‐TiO 2 and 1.0 % Al/N TiO 2 respectively. The decrease in maximum frequency indicates a reduced rate of the charge recombination process in DSSC, therefore characterized by high R CT values.…”

“…achieved 9.67 % energy conversion efficiency by using nanoporous TiO 2 /La 2 O 3 hybrid photoanode. Metal doping and non‐metal doping are the other fascinating approach to achieve improved materials giving enhanced photocurrent and high efficiency DSSC.…”

“…There are several methods for preparation of TiO 2 like sol‐gel,,,,,,,, hydrothermal,,, solvothermal, [l9, 12,16,44] chemical reduction method, electrochemical anodization process, flame spray pyrolysis, electron spinning method and microwave deposition technique . Among these sol‐gel and hydrothermal methods are more common and the hydrothermal method is an efficient way to obtain anatase TiO 2 with high crystallinity, having greatly improved sensor response, high conductivity and greater electron transportation, which results in improved DSSC performance …”

Effect of titanium dioxide blocking layer deposited by cathodic arc plasma on the energy conversion efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells

“…The TiO 2 blocking layers with different cathodic arc deposition pulses were introduced between FTO substrates and mesoporous TiO 2 layers in order to enhance the performance of DSSCs. Different types of materials such as reduced graphene oxide and metal (Au, Ag) doped titania have been used as blocking layers by different techniques [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20]. The modification layer can be directly coated on the conductive substrate by spray pyrolysis [21], chemical vapor deposition (CVD) [22], sputtering [23], sol-gel [24,25] and atomic layer deposition [26].…”