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Localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) by silver nanoparticles that are photochemically incorporated into an electrode-supported TiO(2) nanoparticulate framework enhances the extinction of a subsequently adsorbed dye (the ruthenium-containing molecule, N719). The enhancement arises from both an increase in the dye's effective absorption cross section and a modest increase in the framework surface area. Deployment of the silver-modified assembly as a photoanode in dye-sensitized solar cells leads to light-to-electrical energy conversion with an overall efficiency of 8.9%. This represents a 25% improvement over the performance of otherwise identical solar cells lacking corrosion-protected silver nanoparticles. As one would expect based on increased dye loading and electromagnetic field enhanced (LSPR-enhanced) absorption, the improvement is manifested chiefly as an increase in photocurrent density ascribable to improved light harvesting.

Ethanol-soluble amphiphilic TiO(2) nanoparticles (NPs) of average diameter ∼9 nm were synthesized, and an α-terpineol-based TiO(2) paste was readily prepared from them in comparatively few steps. When used for fabrication of photoelectrodes for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), the paste yielded highly transparent films and possessing greater-than-typical, thickness-normalized surface areas. These film properties enabled the corresponding DSSCs to produce high photocurrent densities (17.7 mA cm(-2)) and a comparatively high overall light-to-electrical energy conversion efficiency (9.6%) when deployed with the well-known ruthenium-based molecular dye, N719. These efficiencies are about ∼1.4 times greater than those obtained from DSSCs containing photoelectrodes derived from a standard commercial source of TiO(2) paste.