Feather-like Ag@TiO2 nanostructures as plasmonic antenna to enhance optoelectronic performance

Abstract

The feather-like Ag@TiO₂ nanostructures including 1-dimensional (1D) Ag nanowires and 2-dimensional (2D) TiO₂ possess the features of fast electron transmission by one-dimensional metal nanomaterials, high light harvesting and electron collection by feather-like nanostructures like “plasmonic antenna” at the same time. We introduce them into photoanodes to enhance the conversion efficiency in DSSCs. The best efficiency (η) of the electrode reaches 8.16% compared with that of the pure TiO₂ electrode (6.41%). The energy conversion efficiency and photocurrent density of photoanodes with Ag@TiO₂ nanostructures are enhanced by about 14.5% and 27.8%, respectively, as compared with those of the pure TiO₂ cells. The photoelectric properties of electrodes are investigated by optical and electrochemical measurements. Hence, the improved performances are attributed to the “plasmonic antenna” effect due to Ag@TiO₂ anchored in TiO₂ films.