Plasmon enfolded TiO2 hierarchical photoanode: fabrication and the performance evaluation as liquid-based dye-sensitized solar cell

Alteration of the optical and photoelectrical properties of the photoanode materials are a prerequisite for improving the performance of dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC). In this work, Ag-decorated cauliflower-like TiO2 photoanode was fabricated and studied the photovoltaic performance. The hierarchical structured TiO2 with abundant bundles exhibited a novel matrix for Ag deposition by the photoreduction technique. It is significant that the Ag nanoparticles showed a uniform size distribution on hierarchical structured TiO2 nanorods (HNRs). The plasmonic particle enfolded photoanode-based DSSC exhibited an efficiency of 4.15%, which is higher compared to the pristine TiO2 HNR (3.83%). The progress in the efficiency of plasmon particle-based DSSC is crucial, regarding the optical properties, and reduced charge transport resistance observed from the UV visible analysis (UV-Vis) and electrochemical impedance spectra (EIS).