Nanoplasmonic for Solar Energy Conversion Devices

Abstract

The effect of nanoplasmonic (Ag) on the performance of DSSCs has been studied in doped and undoped ZnO (DZ and UZ) NPs, which were prepared by the urea-assisted combustion route. Different techniques were conducted to characterize DZ and UZ NPs. XRD patterns were indexed to the hexagonal wurtzite structure of ZnO NPs (ICSD-52362). The values of average crystalline size of UZ and DZ (1.0 mol% Ag) NPs were 20.45 and 22.30 nm, respectively. HR-TEM micrograph revealed good crystallization with an intermediate or poor agglomeration with distribution of semispherical morphologies of ZnO NPs. The energy bandgap of UZ and DZ NPs was changed from 3.21 to 3.31 eV. The deconvolution of the PL spectra recognized eight peaks into near ultraviolet (NUV) and visible regions. The PL emission of visible region overshadowed NUV transition. The photovoltaic cell with the doped photoanode DZ:1.0 mol% Ag exhibited the best performance parameters: Voc = 0.46 V, Jsc = 7.81 mA.cm À2 , Pm = 1.91, FF = 51%, and η = 1.91%. A double exponential function was used as a powerful fitting function for the TOCVD data. The results revealed that τ n in the UZ NPs photoanode was longer than that in the DZ:1.0 mol% Ag NPs photoanode.

Tunable Switching between Slow and Fast Light in the Double Metal Nanoparticles (MNPs)-Quantum Dot (QD) Plasmonic Hybrid Systems

“…Nanoplasmonics is a hot topic in research due to its applications in sensors [1][2][3], optical communication systems [4,5], and solar cell applications [6]. An interesting property of such systems is their ability to confine the optical energy in sub-wavelength dimensions [7].…”