Abstract
SiO2@TiO2-Ag (STA) microspheres decorated with Ag nanoparticles (Ag NPs) were prepared and assembled into the photoanode. The photoanode composed of STA microspheres and TiO2 nanoparticles (P25) was prepared by doctor blade method. UV–vis measurement indicates that the introduction of a few STA microspheres observably enhances the light scattering and capturing ability of the photoanode. The photoelectric conversion efficiency of the DSSCs with 2wt% STA photoanode increased to 7.4% from 4.3% comparing with pure P25 TiO2 nanoparticles. The configuration DSSCs have the maximum short circuit current density (Jsc) of 16.0 mA cm−2 and open-circuit voltage (Voc) of 0.780 V, which are significantly higher than the pure TiO2 DSSCs. The significant improvement of the DSSCs performance can be due to the synergistic effect of the superior light scattering of STA and the localized surface plasma resonance (LSPR) effect of Ag NPs modified on the microspheres surface.
Highlights
Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) have attracted huge attention in recent years due to their relatively low cost, easy production process and moderate photovoltaic performance since designed by Gratzel team in 1991 [1]
The significant improvement of the DSSCs performance can be due to the synergistic effect of the superior light scattering of STA and the localized surface plasma resonance (LSPR) effect of Ag nanoparticles (Ag NPs) modified on the microspheres surface
Son group has reported that SiO2/TiO2 spheres consisting of a low refractive index core and high refractive index shell enhanced light scattering to improve power conversion efficiency of DSSCs [10]
Summary
Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) have attracted huge attention in recent years due to their relatively low cost, easy production process and moderate photovoltaic performance since designed by Gratzel team in 1991 [1]. Son group has reported that SiO2/TiO2 spheres consisting of a low refractive index core and high refractive index shell enhanced light scattering to improve power conversion efficiency of DSSCs [10]. The low absorption in the visible region of TiO2 obstructs the efficiency of DSSCs. Recently, localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) effect of noble metal nanoparticles such as Ag, Au and Pt has been extensively applied in photocatalysis [12] and photovoltaic devices [13]. The improvement in performance can be attributed to the enhancement of light capture rate by strong light scattering and the enhancement of light absorption in LSPR effect due to the addition of Ag NPs. The effects and mechanisms of the STA microspheres on the performance of the DSSCs were explored
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