New Strategy for Creating TiO2 Thin Films with Embedded Au Nanoparticles

Abstract

This paper proposes a new strategy for producing thin films of TiO2 with embedded gold nanoparticles (TiO2/AuNP). One of the main tasks was the synthesis of a stable dispersion of TiO2 and gold nanoparticles in an aqueous solution of ethylene glycol, suitable for inkjet printing—ink with complex gold nanoparticles (AuCNP ink). The AuCNP were synthesized by a reduction from tetrachloroauric acid in the presence of TiO2 nanoparticles and ethylene glycol (EG). The final formation of TiO2/AuNP films occurred during the annealing of AuCNP layers, inkjet printed on a glass substrate. The TiO2/AuNP films demonstrate absorbance in the yellow-green range due to the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) and are promising for solar cell application.

UV Aydınlatma Altında Gelişmiş Fotokatalitik Performans için Fotokatalitik Biriktirme ile Hazırlanan Cu Nanokümelerle Süslenmiş Sütunlu TiO2 İnce Filmler

“…The loading of metallic particles to TiO2 thin film surface is one of the most common approaches due to not only increasing the light absorption properties from UV to visible region but also increasing the lifetime of photogenerated charge carriers by trapping the electrons (Yang et al, 2013). Well-controlled metallic particles on TiO2 thin film surface can be achieved by various synthesis methods including chemical (Rubtsov et al, 2021), physical (Sriubas et al, 2021), and photochemical processes (Mendoza-Diaz et al, 2020). Among others, the photochemical process (e.g., photodeposition or photocatalytic deposition) gives proper control of the size, shape, and distribution of deposited metallic particles as well as strong chemical adhesion between TiO2 thin film surfaces (Wenderich and Mul, 2016).…”

Plasmon-Enhanced Perovskite Solar Cells Based on Inkjet-Printed Au Nanoparticles Embedded into TiO2 Microdot Arrays

“…The TiO 2 -AuNP_MDA layer inkjet printed at the ETL/MAPI interface can both isolate AuNPs from MAPI and create good contact with TiO 2 ETL, ensuring the transfer of hot electrons and promoting photoconductivity and the extraction of photogenerated electrons at the TiO 2 /MAPI interface [18,19]. The printing of an MDA pattern rather than a continuous layer was chosen because individual droplets are reproducible, and AuNPs with the same size distribution were synthesized in them after annealing [20]. In addition, the MDA layer contributes to lower series resistance.…”