Abstract
A silver nanoparticle-decorated N,S-co-doped TiO2 nanocomposite was successfully prepared and used as an efficient photoanode in high-performance dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) with N719 dye. The DSSCs assembled with the N,S-TiO2@Ag-modified photoanode demonstrated an enhanced solar-to-electrical energy conversion efficiency of 8.22%, which was better than that of a DSSC photoanode composed of unmodified TiO2 (2.57%) under full sunlight illumination (100 mWcm−2, AM 1.5 G). This enhanced efficiency was mainly attributed to the reduced band gap energy, improved interfacial charge transfer, and retarded charge recombination process. The influence of the Ag content on the overall efficiency was also investigated, and the optimum Ag content with N,S-TiO2 was found to be 20 wt%. Because of the enhanced solar energy conversion efficiency of the N,S-TiO2@Ag nanocomposite, it should be considered as a potential photoanode for high-performance DSSCs.
Highlights
Renewable energy sources have become important approaches for gaining independence from fossil fuels
We successfully developed a facile route to synthesize N,S-TiO2@Ag nanocomposite materials as a photoanode for high-performance dye-sensitized solar cells
The photovoltaic performance significantly improved with the enhancement of absorption in the visible region
Summary
Performance of Dye-Sensitized received: 14 November 2014 accepted: 29 April 2015 Published: 06 July 2015. The DSSCs assembled with the N,S-TiO2@Ag-modified photoanode demonstrated an enhanced solar-to-electrical energy conversion efficiency of 8.22%, which was better than that of a DSSC photoanode composed of unmodified TiO2 (2.57%) under full sunlight illumination (100 mWcm−2, AM 1.5 G) This enhanced efficiency was mainly attributed to the reduced band gap energy, improved interfacial charge transfer, and retarded charge recombination process. The introduction of plasmonic Ag nanoparticles on the N,S-TiO2 surface showed multifunctional properties, including a surface plasmon resonance effect, a reduction in the band-gap, an improved interfacial charge transfer, and the minimization of the charge recombination process as a result of the synergistic photovoltaic performance
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