Tunable surface plasmons of dielectric core-metal shell particles for dye sensitized solar cells

Abstract

Our findings show that the extinction spectrum of core-shell type plasmonic particles can be effectively controlled by changing their geometric factor. This tuning capability allows the surface plasmons of the core-shell particles to be designed in such a way that the absorption of dye molecules is maximized in dye sensitized solar cells. When plasmonic particles with a metallic nanoshell and a dielectric core are incorporated into a TiO2 mesoporous photoelectrode, the optical cross section of dye sensitizers and the energy conversion efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) are increased. The enhanced photon-electron conversion is attributed to localized surface plasmons of the core-shell particles, which increase the absorption and scattering of incoming light in the photoelectrode.