Enhance the performance of dye-sensitized solar cells by constructing upconversion-core/semiconductor-shell structured NaYF4:Yb,Er @BiOCl microprisms

Abstract Upconversion spectral converters enable the utilization of infrared photons for dye-sensitized solar cells. However, the TiO2 photoanode photoelectron trapping loss caused by defects and ligands on upconversion material surface limits the dye-sensitized solar cells efficiency. Here, we separate spatially TiO2 particles and upconverters through crafting an uniform semiconductor BiOCl shell onto NaYF4:Yb3+,Er3+ upconverters surface by a hydrothermal method. Unlike common insulate SiO2 shells, the BiOCl shell decreases little the upconversion luminescence intensity from the upconversion core, but it can inhibit the photoelectron transfer from TiO2 to upconversion particles due to its higher conduction band position than that of TiO2, which eliminates the photoelectron trapping loss. In addition, the BiOCl shell can harvest 408 nm photons from upconversion cores to generate additional photoelectrons into TiO2 photoanode film. Consequently, the incorporation of upconversion-core/semiconductor-shell structured particles into TiO2 photoanodes of dye-sensitized solar cells achieves 29.8% increase of power conversion efficiency, whereas bare upconversion particles only get 11.9% increase as compared with dye-sensitized solar cells with pure TiO2 photoanodes. We quantify that among the relative efficiency increase by the incorporation of upconversion-core/semiconductor-shell particles: 17.2% from the reduced photoelectron trapping and the harvest of upconversion 408 nm photons by BiOCl shell, 4.9% from the green and red upconversion of near infrared photons, and 7.7% from the scattering effect of the designed spectral upconverters.