Contributions of Ag Nanowires to the Photoelectric Conversion Efficiency Enhancement of TiO2 Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells.

Ag nanowires (AgNWs) were employed in mesoporous TiO2 dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) to enhance the photoelectric conversion efficiency (PCE). The possible reasons for PCE improvement, i.e., improvement in electron transport and light harvesting due to light scattering and plasmonic resonance effect of AgNWs are investigated. Electrochemical impedance spectra (EIS) study proved that addition of AgNWs can enhance the conductivity of TiO2 thin film photoanode, which is an important reason for the increase of photocurrent. Furthermore, through the comparison experiments as well as the UV-Vis absorption and IPCE characterization, contributions of the light scattering and plasmonic resonance effect to the enhancement of light harvest, and thus PCE of the DSSCs were demonstrated. It was found that fast electron transport of AgNWs played more important role for the PCE improvement than the light harvest enhancement due to light scattering and plasmonic effect. Based on these investigations, the AgNWs modified TiO2 thin film DSSCs were optimized. After integrating AgNWs into the photoanode, the photocurrent increased significantly and PCE increased -50% comparing with the pure TiO2-based DSSCs.