Broadband Plasmonic Enhancement of High-Efficiency Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells by Incorporating Au@Ag@SiO2 Core–Shell Nanocuboids

The introduction of plasmonic additives is a promissing approach to boost the efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) since it may improve the light harvesting of a solar cell. Herein, we design broadband and strong plasmonic absorption Au@Ag@SiO2 nanocuboides (GSS NCs) as nanophotonic inclusions to achieve plasmon-enhanced DSSCs. These multiple resonances absorption arising from GSS NCs can be readily adjusted by altering their structures to complementarily match the absorption spectrum of the dyes, especially in weak absorption zones. By subtly regulating the position of nanophotonic inclusions in the photoanodes, not only the plasmonic near-field enhancement but also far-field light-scattering could be adequately developed to promote the light harvest and thus the efficiency of DSSCs. The resulting solar cells yield an average efficiency of 10.34%, with a champion value of 10.58%. The electromagnetic simulations are consistent with the experimental observations, further corroborating the synergi...