Cooperative Plasmonic Effect of Ag and Au Nanoparticles on Enhancing Performance of Polymer Solar Cells

• Published in: Nano letters Vol. 13; no. 1; pp. 59 - 64
• Main Authors: Lu, Luyao, Luo, Zhiqiang, Xu, Tao, Yu, Luping
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Chemical Society 09.01.2013
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Collective excitations (including excitons, polarons, plasmons and other charge-density excitations); Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties; Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science; rheology; Devices; Electronic structure and electrical properties of surfaces, interfaces, thin films and low-dimensional structures; Electronics; Energy; Exact sciences and technology; Gold; Materials science; Nanocrystalline materials; Nanoparticles; Nanoscale materials and structures: fabrication and characterization; Nanostructure; Natural energy; Optoelectronic devices; Performance enhancement; Photovoltaic cells; Photovoltaic conversion; Physics; Plasmonics; Semiconductor electronics. Microelectronics. Optoelectronics. Solid state devices; Silver; Solar cells; Solar cells. Photoelectrochemical cells; Solar energy; Surface and interface electron states; silver and gold nanoparticles; impedance spectroscopy; gold nanorods; Polymer solar cells; plasmonic effect; Solar cells; Buffer layer; Gold; Light emitting diodes; Charge transport; Nanostructures; Nanoparticles; Silver; Excitons; Thin film devices; Heterojunctions; Plasmons; Resonance; Light absorption; Polymers; Nanorod; Nanostructured materials
• ISSN: 1530-6984; 1530-6992
• DOI: 10.1021/nl3034398

This article describes a cooperative plasmonic effect on improving the performance of polymer bulk heterojunction solar cells. When mixed Ag and Au nanoparticles are incorporated into the anode buffer layer, dual nanoparticles show superior behavior on enhancing light absorption in comparison with single nanoparticles, which led to the realization of a polymer solar cell with a power conversion efficiency of 8.67%, accounting for a 20% enhancement. The cooperative plasmonic effect aroused from dual resonance enhancement of two different nanoparticles. The idea was further unraveled by comparing Au nanorods with Au nanoparticles for solar cell application. Detailed studies shed light into the influence of plasmonic nanostructures on exciton generation, dissociation, and charge recombination and transport inside thin film devices.