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Plasmonic effects of infiltrated silver nanoparticles inside TiO2 film: Enhanced photovoltaic performance in DSSCs

Andaji Garmaroudi, Z ; Sharif University of Technology

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  1. Type of Document: Article
  2. DOI: 10.1111/jace.13923
  3. Publisher: Blackwell Publishing Inc
  4. Abstract:
  5. The plasmonic effects of infiltrated silver (Ag) nanoparticles, with different contents, inside a nanostructured TiO2 film on the photovoltaic performance of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) are explored. The synthesized Ag nanoparticles are immobilized onto deposited TiO2 nanoparticles by a new strategy using 3-mercaptopropionic acid (MPA), a bifunctional linker molecule. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) images show that monodispersed Ag and polydispersed TiO2 nanoparticles have an average diameter of 12 ± 3 nm and 5 ± 1 nm, respectively. Moreover, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis reveals that Ag nanoparticles were successfully functionalized and capped with MPA. Optical studies on the MPA-capped Ag nanoparticles inside TiO2 film show an increase in the total absorbance of the electrode. Moreover, EIS measurements confirm that MPA-capped Ag nanoparticles inhibit the charge recombination and improve the stability of nanoparticles in I3 -/I- electrolyte. The DSSC assembled with optimal content of MPA-capped Ag nanoparticles demonstrated an enhanced power conversion efficiency (8.82% ± 0.07%) compared with the pure TiO2 (7.30% ± 0.05%). The increase in cell efficiency was attributed to the enhanced dye light absorption in strength and spectral range due to the surface plasmon resonance of MPA-capped Ag nanoparticles in the photoanode
  6. Keywords:
  7. Dye-sensitized solar cells ; Efficiency ; Electrolytes ; Electromagnetic wave absorption ; Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy ; Light absorption ; Metal nanoparticles ; Nanoparticles ; Photovoltaic effects ; Plasmons ; Solar cells ; Solar power generation ; Surface plasmon resonance ; Synthesis (chemical) ; Titanium dioxide ; Transmission electron microscopy ; 3-mercaptopropionic acid ; Bifunctional linker molecule ; Charge recombinations ; Infiltrated silver ; Nanostructured TiO ; Photovoltaic performance ; Plasmonic effects ; Power conversion efficiencies ; Silver
  8. Source: Journal of the American Ceramic Society ; Volume 99, Issue 1 , 2016 , Pages 167-173 ; 00027820 (ISSN)
  9. URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jace.13923/abstract