Design of Novel Photoanode based on Au-NPs embedded TiO2 Photoanode for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells Application

Abstract

With the increase in demand of economic, ecofriendly, and portable solar cell, Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSCs) is a promising candidate which may give the above demands. The main objective of this research work is to adopt Glancing Angle Deposition (GLAD) technique for developing novel Gold (Au) nanoparticles assisted between vertically aligned TiO2 nanowires photoanode on glass substrates for DSSCs application. The structural and morphology analysis shows the successful deposition of Au nanoparticles (Au-NPs) embedded between vertically aligned TiO2 nanowire. Further, the TEM analysis confirms that Au-NPs are embedded at the middle of the nanowires. It is interesting to observe a broad photon absorption in the UV and visible region due to combining effects of Surface Plasmon Resonance of metal NPs and scattering of light between NWs. This controllable deposition technique for metal NP embedded NWs may be suitable for designing photoanode for DSSCs applications with enhance efficiency.