Enhancement of Fluorescence and Photostability Based on Interaction of Fluorescent Dyes with Silver Nanoparticles for Luminescent Solar Concentrators

Sara El-Molla,A. E. Hammad,A. F. Mansour

doi:10.1155/2017/9701251

Sara El-Molla, A. E. Hammad + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/9701251

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Abstract

For luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs), it is important to enhance the fluorescence quantum yield (FQY) and photostability. Our measurements have demonstrated that the addition of silver nanoparticles to dye solution causes broadening of absorption bands, so the spectral range of sunlight absorbed by LSC has increased. Silver nanoparticles (NPs) were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and UV-Vis absorption spectra. UV-Vis spectrum showed a single peak at 442 nm due to the surface plasmon resonance (SPR). The position of SPR peak exhibited a red shift after the sample was exposed to UV irradiation (unfiltered light). The optical band gap values have a reduction from 2.46 to 2.37 eV after irradiation for 960 minutes. Such reduction in optical band gap may be due to change in particle size calculated using Mie theory. The photostability of organic dyes used was improved after adding silver nanoparticles. The area under fluorescence spectra of dyes with silver NPs increased by 41–31% when compared with identical dye concentrations without silver nanoparticles as a result of interaction of the species with silver NPs.

Highlights

Luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs) were introduced for the first time in 1976 by Weber and Lambe [1] and studied in detail [2, 3]
A typical fluorescent collector absorbs the incident sunlight through the front face of a luminescent plate and a fraction of the reemitted photons are trapped by total internal reflection (TIR) and directed towards a PV cell generally mounted on the edges of the collector
We aimed to study behavior of silver NPs before and after UV irradiation and enhance the fluorescence of selected organic dyes used in LSC by adding silver nanoparticles into the dye solutions

Summary

Introduction

Luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs) were introduced for the first time in 1976 by Weber and Lambe [1] and studied in detail [2, 3]. The LSCs generally contain fluorescent particles such as organic dyes or quantum dots embedded in a transparent matrix medium such as poly(methyl methacrylate), polycarbonate, glass, or even a liquid solution. The luminescent solar concentrators using liquid solutions contained between transparent plates have received a little attention [4, 5]. They represent an interesting fundamental system which can be used for a wide range of theoretical and spectroscopic studies, helping to understand the basic performance of fluorescent dye under illumination. Enhancement of the efficiency was due to scattering of the particles and not due to dye absorption/reemission.

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