Abstract:
Dye – sensitized solar cells (DSSC) is a promising system for cost-efficient solar
energy conversion application. DSSC mainly consists of photoanode, electrolyte
and counter electrode. Photoanode is fabricated through the deposition of
mesoporous semiconductor material on conducting glass substrate and sensitized
with dye molecules. Electrolyte contains redox couples which is filled between the
photoanode and counter electrode. Counter electrode is used for the charge
exchange. The performance of the DSSC can be enhanced by a suitable
modification of the photoanode. In this study, DSSCs have been fabricated and
characterized. In order to the study the effect of Au plasmonic nanoparticles on the
cell performance, suitable size and amount of Au nanoparticles were incorporated
to the photoanode. Optical and morphological characterizations of synthesized Au
nanoparticles were done. The size of the Au nanoparticles is around 25-35 nm.
These plasmonic nanoparticles can absorb photons from the solar radiation by the
localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) effect and generate a strong electric
field. This process enhances the photocurrent density as well as the overall
efficiency of the solar cells. Au plasmonic nanoparticle enhanced DSSC shows a
better efficiency of 3.65% while controlled (without Au nanoparticles) shows an
efficiency of 1.66%. The performance of the solar cell has been enhanced by
plasmonic Au nanoparticles.
