Plasmonic noble metal coupled biphasic TiO2 electrode for dye-sensitized solar cell

Biphasic (anatase-rutile) TiO2 can play a significant role in photon harvesting and charge transport in Dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC). However, fabrication of biphasic TiO2 thin film for electrode is crucial at low temperature. This paper reports the fabrication of plasmonic Ag loaded biphasic TiO2 electrode using sol-gel dip coating method to study the synergistic effect of surface plasmon resonance and homo-interface on photon harvesting and charge transport in DSSC. Structural and optical analyses confirm the phase composition and elevated absorption of the electrodes. Comparative study on the performance of DSSCs assembled with electrodes shows that Ag loaded biphasic TiO2 enhanced 60% power conversion efficiency (PEC) compared to anatase TiO2. This enhanced efficiency is mainly attributed to the reduced band gap, improved interfacial charge transfer, increased electron lifetime and retarded charge recombination. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.