Surface plasma resonant effect of gold nanoparticles on the photoelectrodes of dye-sensitized solar cells

Abstract

In this study, we prepared different shapes of gold nanoparticles by seed-mediated growth method and applied them on the photoelectrodes of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) to study the surface plasma resonant (SPR) effect of gold nanoparticles on the photoelectrodes of dye-sensitized solar cells. The analyses of field emission scanning electron microscopy show that the average diameter of the spherical gold nanoparticles is 45 nm, the average length and width of the short gold nanorods were 55 and 22 nm, respectively, and the average length and width of the long gold nanorods were 55 and 14 nm, respectively. The aspect ratio of the short and long gold nanorods was about 2.5 and 4, respectively. The results of ultraviolet–visible absorption spectra show that the absorption wavelength is about 540 nm for spherical gold nanoparticles, and the absorption of the gold nanorods reveals two peaks. One is about 510 to 520 nm, and the other is about 670 and 710 nm for the short and long gold nanorods, respectively. The best conversion efficiency of the dye-sensitized solar cells with spherical gold nanoparticles and short and long gold nanorods added in is 6.77%, 7.08%, and 7.29%, respectively, and is higher than that of the cells without gold nanoparticles, which is 6.21%. This result indicates that the effect of gold nanoparticles on the photoelectrodes can increase the conductivity and reduce the recombination of charges in the photoelectrodes, resulting in the increase of conversion efficiency for DSSCs. In addition, the long gold nanorods have stronger SPR effect than the spherical gold nanoparticles and short gold nanorods at long wavelength. This may be the reason for the higher conversion efficiency of DSSCs with long gold nanorods than those of the cells with spherical gold nanoparticles and short gold nanorods.

Identification of thiol from 11-(9-carbazolyl)-1-undecyl disulfide by NMR spectroscopy and single step coating of gold nanoparticles

“…The broad band around 540-545 nm is attributed to the surface plasmon of the gold nanoparticles. [32][33][34] The presence of typical heteroatom absorption bands of carbazole from the CBZDS disulfide confirms the chemisorption of the CBZDS on the surface of gold nanoparticles. The colloidal suspensions of CBZDS-coated nanoparticles with respect to bare nanoparticles were found to be stable for long time further confirming the coating of them with the disulfide.…”

Metal-polymer nanocomposite with stable plasmonic tuning under cyclic strain conditions

“…3,4 Plasmonic nanocomposites consisting of Au or Ag nanoparticles embedded in a dielectric matrix are increasingly used for selective light absorption and/or transmission in optoelectronics, biosensing, and solar energy harvesting. [5][6][7][8][9][10] The tuning of their optical properties can be obtained by selecting nanoparticle dimensions and geometries, particle density, and hence inter-particle distance. 3,4 This passive tuning requires the preparation of the ingredients of the nanocomposite with predetermined characteristics prior to the fabrication.…”

Surface plasma resonance enhanced photocurrent generation in NiO photoanode based solar cells

“…Therefore, it is highly desirable to improve p-type DSSCs efficiency. Surface plasma resonance (SPR) effect has been introduced into n-type DSSCs and polymer solar cells, aiming at improving the light harvesting efficiency [19][20][21][22][23][24]. It was first reported that an improvement of PCE from 9.59% to 10.80% was observed when noble metal nanoparticles (NPs) was added in ntype DSSCs TiO 2 photoanode in combination with N3 sensitizer [25].…”