Plasmon-enhanced quasi-solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells with metal@Dendron nanoparticles

We have investigated the effects of localized surface plasmons (LSPs) on the performance of quasi-solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Ag and Au nanoparticles (NPs) were prepared by photoreduction in the presence of generation 5 polyester hydroxyl acetylene bis(hydroxymethyl)propanoic acid dendrons (Dendron) as a stabilizer. The plasmon-enhanced DSSCs were achieved by incorporating metal@Dendron NPs into TiO₂ photoanodes. The presence of dendrons prevents the photoelectrons from recombining on the surface of TiO₂ semiconductor and improves the stability of metal NPs. With the addition of Ag@Dendron NPs, the photocurrent and the power conversion efficiency of quasi-solid-state DSSCs increased due to the LSP effect of metal NPs and the barrier effect of dendron, which were confirmed by the increased incident photon-to-photocurrent efficiency and by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy analysis.