Understanding Plasmon Enhancement for Next-generation Solar Cells for Aerospace Technology

Photovoltaic cells that harness solar energy and convert it to electricity are essential to NASA’s work in outer space, as wired electricity does not exist. However, current solar cells are inefficient and inflexible. Dyesensitized solar cells (DSSCs), a type of organic-based solar cell, show promise as a potential solution to this problem. DSSCs are novel technologies though, and their inefficiency makes them currently economically infeasible. Research on the molecular mechanisms of DSSCs could lead to improvements on their efficiency and a possible marketable commercial product. This paper discusses research involving the introduction of silver nanoparticles into DSSCs to enhance their efficiency through plasmon enhancement, the improved absorbance of a dye molecule due to the enhanced electromagnetic field surrounding a photoexcited metal particle. The plasmonic effect is distance dependent, so it will be studied using silica-encapsulated silver nanoparticles with dyes attached at varying lengths. The structures will be studied using single molecule fluorescence, a technique that will allow the study of single particles rather than the average of a group. This research will hopefully lead to a more efficient model for the DSSC.