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Improving the efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cell via tuning the Au plasmons inlaid TiO2 nanotube array photoanode

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Abstract

Plasmonic enhancement is an effective method to improve the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The size and amount of plasmon play key roles in plasmonic effect; however, the report on the relationship between morphology and processing of plasmon is rare. In this work, a series of Au nanoparticles (NPs) inlaid into TiO2 nanotube (NT) based photoanodes have been synthesized through tuning HAuCl4 solution concentration and irradiation time during the photoreduction process. Meanwhile, the optical and photoelectrical properties of these plasmonic DSSCs have also been verified. The results demonstrate that the optimized plasmonic DSSC (irradiation time: 5 min, solution concentration: 0.5 mM) showed a 19.0% improvement of PCE, compared to the reference DSSC without Au NPs. The improved PCE is mainly attributed to the enhanced photocurrent generated by surface plasmon resonance (SPR) effect of small sized Au NPs as well as light scattering effect of large sized particles.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the financial support of this work by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51502243), the Natural Science Foundation of Shannxi Province (2017JM5078), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (3102018zy006).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Solidification Processing, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an, People’s Republic of China

    Jia Chen, Min Guo, Haijun Su, Jun Zhang, Lin Liu & Keyu Xie

  2. Department of Applied Physics and Materials Research Center, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong

    Haitao Huang

Authors
  1. Jia Chen
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  2. Min Guo
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  3. Haijun Su
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  4. Jun Zhang
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  5. Lin Liu
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  6. Haitao Huang
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  7. Keyu Xie
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Correspondence to Min Guo or Jun Zhang.

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Chen, J., Guo, M., Su, H. et al. Improving the efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cell via tuning the Au plasmons inlaid TiO2 nanotube array photoanode. J Appl Electrochem 48, 1139–1149 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10800-018-1220-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10800-018-1220-4

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