Issue 21, 2013

Fabrication of well-arrayed plasmonic mesoporous TiO2/Ag films for dye-sensitized solar cells by multiple-step nanoimprint lithography

Abstract

This paper presents a photo-anode with well-arrayed plasmonic mesoporous TiO2/Ag films for plasmon enhanced dye-sensitized solar cells. The patterned mesoporous TiO2 nanostructure was implemented by multiple-step nanoimprint lithography (NIL), which can generate complex micro/nanostructures by successive imprinting on the same area using a combination of simpler flexible templates. Ag nanoparticles were introduced into the TiO2 network by the photoreduction process to excite the plasmonic effect. Moreover, the morphological, material, optical and electrochemical properties of the patterned mesoporous TiO2/Ag films were investigated by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray analysis, UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The energy conversion efficiency and photocurrent density for patterned TiO2/Ag cells were enhanced by about 24% and 25% as compared with those of the pure TiO2 cells. The experimental observations demonstrate that the plasmonic effect can be enhanced by periodic patterns, allowing more broad light waves to couple to plasmonic wavelength due to the multiple reflection of incident light. The results also indicate that applying the multiple-step NIL process can not only increase the surface area of the photo-anode but also enhance the adherence at the TiO2/TiO2 nanoparticle interface and TiO2/conductive substrate interface improving the electrochemical properties. With its simplicity and time-saving options, this method of fabricating patterned electrodes can be widely applied to a variety of large-area thin film solar cells.

Graphical abstract: Fabrication of well-arrayed plasmonic mesoporous TiO2/Ag films for dye-sensitized solar cells by multiple-step nanoimprint lithography

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
01 Mar 2013
Accepted
28 Mar 2013
First published
28 Mar 2013

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2013,1, 6433-6440

Fabrication of well-arrayed plasmonic mesoporous TiO2/Ag films for dye-sensitized solar cells by multiple-step nanoimprint lithography

W. Jiang, H. Liu, L. Yin and Y. Ding, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2013, 1, 6433 DOI: 10.1039/C3TA10882A

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