Plasmonic Effects of Metallic Nanoparticles on Enhancing Performance of Perovskite Solar Cells

• Published in: ACS applied materials & interfaces Vol. 9; no. 40; pp. 34821 - 34832
• Main Authors: Luo, Qi, Zhang, Chenxi, Deng, Xueshuang, Zhu, Hongbing, Li, Zhiqiang, Wang, Zengbo, Chen, Xiaohong, Huang, Sumei
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Chemical Society 11-10-2017
• Subjects: Au nanoparticles; exciton dissociation; near-field; plasmon enhancement; exciton generation; perovskite solar cells
• ISSN: 1944-8244; 1944-8252
• DOI: 10.1021/acsami.7b08489

We report systematic design and formation of plasmonic perovskite solar cells (PSCs) by integrating Au@TiO2 core–shell nanoparticles (NPs) into porous TiO2 and/or perovskite semiconductor capping layers. The plasmonic effects in the formed PSCs are examined. The most efficient configuration is obtained by incorporating Au@TiO2 NPs into both the porous TiO2 and the perovskite capping layers, which increases the power conversion efficiency (PCE) from 12.59% to 18.24%, demonstrating over 44% enhancement, compared with the reference device without the metal NPs. The PCE enhancement is mainly attributed to short-circuit current improvement. The plasmonic enhancement effects of Au@TiO2 core–shell nanosphere photovoltaic composites are explored based on the combination of UV–vis absorption spectroscopy, external quantum efficiency (EQE), photocurrent properties, and photoluminescence (PL). The addition of Au@TiO2 nanospheres increased the rate of exciton generation and the probability of exciton dissociation, enhancing charge separation/transfer, reducing the recombination rate, and facilitating carrier transport in the device. This study contributes to understanding of plasmonic effects in perovskite solar cells and also provides a promising approach for simultaneous photon energy and electron management.