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Plasmonic enhancement of dye sensitized solar cells via a tailored size-distribution of chemically functionalized gold nanoparticles.

ABSTRACT: A substantial and stable increase of the current density Jsc of ruthenium (Ru) dye sensitized solar cells (DSC) of up to 16.18% and of the power efficiency of up to 25.5% is demonstrated in this article via plasmonic enhancement. The key aspect of this work is the use of a tailored bimodal size distribution of functionalized gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) that have been chemically immobilized onto the mesoporous titanium dioxide (TiO2) layer via short, stable dithiodibutyric acid linkers. The size distribution of the AuNPs is a result of theoretical calculations that aimed at the perfection of the absorption characteristics of the complete solar cell system over a wide range of wavelengths. The functionalization of the AuNPs serves to bind them at a close but defined distance to TiO2-particles and additionally to chemically protect them against potential corrosion by the electrolyte. Simulations of near field (enhanced absorption) and far field (scattering) contributions have been used to tailor a complex AuNPs bimodal size distribution that had subsequently demonstrated experimentally a close to optimum improvement of the absorbance over a wide wavelength range (500-675 nm) and therefore an impressive DSC efficiency enhancement. Finally, the modified DSCs are exhibiting pronounced longevity and stable performance as confirmed via long time measurements. In summary, the presented systems show increased performance compared to non plasmonic enhanced cells with otherwise identical composition, and are demonstrating a previously unpublished longevity for iodide electrolyte/AuNPs combinations.

SUBMITTER: Andrei C

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4212914 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Plasmonic enhancement of dye sensitized solar cells via a tailored size-distribution of chemically functionalized gold nanoparticles.

Andrei Codrin C Lestini Elena E Crosbie Stephen S de Frein Caoimhe C O'Reilly Thomas T Zerulla Dominic D

PloS one 20141029 10

A substantial and stable increase of the current density Jsc of ruthenium (Ru) dye sensitized solar cells (DSC) of up to 16.18% and of the power efficiency of up to 25.5% is demonstrated in this article via plasmonic enhancement. The key aspect of this work is the use of a tailored bimodal size distribution of functionalized gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) that have been chemically immobilized onto the mesoporous titanium dioxide (TiO2) layer via short, stable dithiodibutyric acid linkers. The size d ...[more]

PMID: 25354362

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Project description:Natural pigment-based photosensitizers are an attractive pathway for realizing low cost and environmentally friendly solar cells. Here, broadband light-harvesting is achieved using two natural pigments, betanin and lawsone, absorbing in the green and blue region of the solar spectrum respectively. The use of bimodal size distribution of AgNPs tailored for each of the pigments to further increase their efficiency is the key feature of this work. This study demonstrates a significant enhancement in current-density, voltage, and efficiency by 20.1%, 5.5%, and 28.6% respectively, in a betanin-lawsone co-sensitized solar cell, via plasmonic enhancement using silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). The optimum sizes of the nanoparticles have been calculated by studying their optical response and electric field profiles using Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) simulations, aimed at matching their resonant wavelengths with the absorption bands of the dyes. Simulations show that AgNPs of diameters 20?nm and 60?nm are optimum for enhanced absorption by lawsone and betanin respectively. The FDTD simulations of the plasmonic photoelectrodes demonstrated 30% and 15% enhancement in the power absorption by betanin and lawsone at the LSPR peaks of the 60?nm and 20?nm AgNPs respectively. An optimum overall concentration of 2% (v/v) and a ratio of 4:1 (20?nm:60?nm) of the bimodal distribution of the AgNPs, was determined for incorporation in the photoanodes. An average efficiency of 1.02?±?0.006% was achieved by the betanin-lawsone co-sensitized solar cell with the bimodal distribution of AgNPs, compared to 0.793?±?0.006% achieved by the non-plasmonic solar cell of otherwise identical configuration. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy confirmed that the incorporation of the bimodal distribution of AgNPs in the solar cells also enabled enhanced electron lifetime and reduced recombination compared to the non-plasmonic counterpart, thereby improving the charge transfer. The plasmonic enhancement methodology presented here can be applied to further improve the efficiency of other natural dye-sensitized solar cells.

Dataset Information

Plasmonic enhancement of dye sensitized solar cells via a tailored size-distribution of chemically functionalized gold nanoparticles.

Publications

Plasmonic enhancement of dye sensitized solar cells via a tailored size-distribution of chemically functionalized gold nanoparticles.

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