Investigation of a novel surface inlay composite nanoparticle based on local surface plasmon resonance-enhanced solar absorption

Abstract

The absorption performance of a direct absorption solar collector (DASC), as the main method of solar thermal application, affects the performance of the entire solar thermal utilization system. The enhancement of the solar energy absorption performance of DASC has received extensive attention. In this study, in order to simultaneously utilize the two absorption peaks of spherical and cylindrical core-shell nanoparticles in the solar spectrum, a new type of surface inlay composite nanoparticle (SICN) is constructed. The enhancement effect of the inlay on the absorption properties of nanoparticles is proven by the finite element method. The SICN for Au@SiO2@Cu achieves an absorption increase of 10.29% and gains a local high heat flux of 8.83 × 105 W/m3. It can be seen that under the same material, SICN has achieved a significant breakthrough in terms of performance compared with core-shell nanoparticles. Then, it is determined that local surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) is the cause of the absorption enhancement. In addition, the coupling nanoparticles can adjust the absorption peak through the change in the size parameters, and when the inlay depth r = 5 nm, two absorption peaks are excited near 630 nm and 710 nm. Therefore, a better absorption performance will be obtained by reasonably adjusting the structural parameters of the SICN. The results are of great significance in promoting the thermal application of solar energy.