Plasmonic-enhanced polymer photovoltaic cells based on Au nanoparticles with wide absorption spectra of 300–1000 nm

Abstract

Bone-like Au nanoparticles (NPs) along with a small number of by-products of nanorods, nanocubes and other irregular shapes were synthesized using a seed-mediated growth approach. The mixed Au NPs generate a very wide absorption spectra of 300-1000 nm with three main absorption peaks at 520, 600, and 770 nm, extending to the main absorption, cut-off and transparence region of the poly-(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and [6,6]-phenyl-C 61 -butyric acid methylester (PCBM) active layer. The mixed Au NPs were attached onto the ITO anode via a self-assembly method, and then P3HT:PCBM-based polymer photovoltaic cells (OPVs) were fabricated. The short-circuit current density and power conversion efficiency are significantly enhanced by 18.6% and 24.2% respectively, accompanied by the optimization of NPs distribution density. Optical, electrical, and morphological changes with the incorporation of Au NPs in the cells were thoroughly analyzed, and the results demonstrated that the cell performance improvement is mainly attributed to a synergistic reaction, including both the localized surface plasmon resonance-and scattering-induced absorption enhancement of the active layer, Au NPs-induced hole extraction ability enhancement, and large interface roughness-induced efficient exciton dissociation and hole collection.

Broadband plasmon-enhanced polymer solar cells with power conversion efficiency of 9.26% using mixed Au nanoparticles

“…1 (d) measured in aqueous solution. Simulations with a FDTD method on the ACSs of bone-like, rod and cube shape Au NPs demonstrate that the absorption around 775 and 525 nm is mainly from the longitudinal and transverse axes' resonances of both bone-like and rod shape NPs, while the 575 nm peak is mainly originated from the resonances of cube shape NPs [36]. Note that in the real devices, Au NPs were doped into the PEDOT:PSS HEL.…”

“…2 have been confirmed through the calculation of the absorption cross sections (ACSs) with a finite difference time domain (FDTD) method (FDTD software from Lumerical Solutions Inc.) [36]. Scattering cross sections (SCSs) with and without Au NPs have also been simulated to observe the Au NPs' contribution to the light scattering in the cells.…”

“…The Au NPs were synthesised by a seed mediated method [36]. Preparation of seed solution: 0.25 mL of a 0.01 M aqueous solution of HAuCl 4 Á 3H 2 O was added to 7.5 mL of a 0.10 M hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) solution in a conical flask with a continuous stirring for 5 min.…”

“…In this paper, we synthesized Au NPs with a broad absorption range of 350-1000 nm with three obvious absorption peaks of 525, 575, and 775 nm [36] covering not only the main absorption region but also the cut-off zone of the PTB7: [6,6]-phenyl-C71-butyric acid methyl ester (PC 71 BM) active layer. We demonstrated that the mixed Au NPs with an optimal doping concentration of 4.5 vol% in the poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(4-styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) hole extraction layer (HEL) bring the PTB7:PC 71 BM based cell significant performance enhancement factors of 17.3% and 19.8% for short-circuit current density (J sc ) and PCE, reaching 18.3 mA cm À 2 and 9.26%, respectively.…”

Colloidal Synthesis and Applications of Plasmonic Metal Nanoparticles

“…Xiong and co‐workers demonstrated silver nanoplates exhibit broad plasmonic bands, compared with silver nanocubes, to harvest and covert NIR light . A mixture of metal nanoparticles including bond‐like, rod, cube and irregular gold nanoparticles was synthesized by Huang and co‐workers to provide wide plasmonic adsorption from 300 nm to 1000 nm, by which a significant enhancement in efficiency of solar cells is displayed . Secondly, controlling the location of the metal nanoparticles in the device structures is crucial to improve the device performance.…”