RF‐sputtered tungsten enabled surface plasmon effect in dye sensitised solar cells

Abstract

This work examined the possibility of overcoming narrow band optical absorption of organic dyes in the range of 350–700 nm via surface plasmon effect mediated by RF-sputtered tungsten (W) thin film on mesoporous TiO 2 for dye-sensitised solar cells (DSSCs) application. The UV–visible spectroscopic measurement showed optical absorption of W-film in the spectral range of 350–700 nm with a dominant characteristic feature in the range of 350–550 nm. W-thin film-coated TiO 2 was used as an electron acceptor in DSSCs and observed ∼28% enhancement in short circuit current density compared to that of in a pristine TiO 2 -based DSSC which did not use W-thin film on TiO 2 . It is attributed to the local field-induced enhancement in optical absorption which resulted in improved exciton generation and effective charge transport in DSSCs enabled by W-thin film coating onto mesoporous TiO 2 .