Feather-like Ag@TiO2 nanostructures as plasmonic antenna to enhance optoelectronic performance

The feather-like Ag@TiO2 nanostructures including 1-dimensional (1D) Ag nanowires and 2-dimensional (2D) TiO2 possess the features of fast electron transmission by one-dimensional metal nanomaterials, high light harvesting and electron collection by feather-like nanostructures like "plasmonic antenna" at the same time. We introduce them into photoanodes to enhance the conversion efficiency in DSSCs. The best efficiency (η) of the electrode reaches 8.16% compared with that of the pure TiO2 electrode (6.41%). The energy conversion efficiency and photocurrent density of photoanodes with Ag@TiO2 nanostructures are enhanced by about 14.5% and 27.8%, respectively, as compared with those of the pure TiO2 cells. The photoelectric properties of electrodes are investigated by optical and electrochemical measurements. Hence, the improved performances are attributed to the "plasmonic antenna" effect due to Ag@TiO2 anchored in TiO2 films.