The effects of 100 nm-diameter Au nanoparticles on dye-sensitized solar cells

Abstract

Gold nanoparticles of ∼100 nm in diameter were incorporated into TiO2 nanoparticles for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). At the optimum Au/TiO2 mass ratio of 0.05, the power-conversion efficiency of the DSSC improved to 3.3% from a value of 2.7% without Au, and this improvement was mainly attributed to the photocurrent density. The Au nanoparticles embedded in the nanoparticulate-TiO2 film strongly absorbed light due to the localized surface-plasmon resonance, and thereby promoted light absorption of the dye. In the DSSCs, the 100 nm-diameter Au nanoparticles generate field enhancement by surface-plasmon resonance rather than prolonged optical paths by light scattering.