Increasing the efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells using plasmonic gold nanocrystals with SiO2 and TiO2 coating

In this research, the synthesis of plasmonic nanoparticles was carried out by chemical dissolution method in three steps. Then, Au@TiO2 and Au@SiO2 core-shell nanostructures have been investigated. These nanostructures were used as photoanode in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Parameters such as short circuit current, open circuit voltage, fill factor and conversion efficiency of DSSCs were obtained. The cell in which Au@TiO2 synthesized with mercaptoacetic acid ligand is used, has the highest efficiency. The primary causes of this are the heightened near-field effect of gold nanoparticles (AuNP) and the creation of enhanced photocurrent due to plasmonics.