Plasmonic metal nanoparticles supporting localized surface plasmon resonances have attracted a great deal of interest in boosting the light absorption in solar cells. Among the various plasmonic materials, the aluminium nanoparticles recently have become a rising star due to their unique ultraviolet plasmonic resonances, low cost, earth-abundance and high compatibility with the complementary me...

This review presents one dimensional (1D) TiO2 nanostructured photoanodes for next generation solar cells such as dye-sensitised solar cells (DSCs) and perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Due to the unique morphological properties, 1D TiO2 nanostructures can act as express electron channels as well as light scattering layer, leading to improved charge transport properties, such as charge separation,...

New selective coating materials are developed and used in advanced solar collector and absorber designs with improved efficiency. Cobalt and Copper sulfides nanoparticles are high interest for absorbers of solar thermal collectors due to their optical properties and high absorptance in the solar wavelength range (> 96%). In the present work, Cobalt and Copper sulfides nanoparticles were synthes...

Surface plasmons, which exist along the interface of a metal and a dielectric, have been proposed as an efficient alternative method for light trapping in solar cells during the past ten years. With unique properties such as superior light scattering, optical trapping, guide mode coupling, near field concentration, and hot-electron generation, metallic nanoparticles or nanostructures can be tai...

Solar-light-driven H2 production in water with a [NiFeSe]-hydrogenase (H2ase) and a bioinspired synthetic nickel catalyst (NiP) in combination with a heptazine carbon nitride polymer, melon (CNx), is reported. The semibiological and purely synthetic systems show catalytic activity during solar light irradiation with turnover numbers (TONs) of more than 50 000 mol H2 (mol H2ase)-1 and approximat...

This chapter discusses studies of semiconducting nanowire arrays for solar cells. The concept of 3D nanowire architectures for photovoltaic light harvesting to effectively decouple light absorption and carrier separation is presented. The available literature on semiconductor nanowire solar cell studies is summarized. Optical and electronic aspects specific to nanowires are discussed to illustr...

Nanocrystalline titanium (iv) oxide paste has been deposited on Fluorine doped tin oxide glass substrate by the blade method. The deposited film was subjected to thermal treatment to obtain an electrode foe a photo-electrochemical cell. The electrode was sensitized with prophyrin dye which was a local dye extracted from carica papaya leaves. Avaspec 2.1 spectrophotometer was used to obtain the ...

• For decades, solar-­‐cell efficiencies have remained below the thermodynamic limits. • Here, we show several new approaches for light management inside solar cells that may overcome some of the thermodynamic losses and pave the way for ultrahigh efficiency photovoltaics. Energy loss due to thermaliza,on or lack of absorp,on Entropy loss due to lack of angle restric,on Entropy loss to increase...

Silicon nanorod based radial-junction solar cells are competitive alternatives to traditional planar silicon solar cells. In various silicon nanorods, nanocone is always considered to be better than nanowire in light-absorption. Nevertheless, we find that this notion isn't absolutely correct. Silicon nanocone is indeed significantly superior over nanowire in light-concentration due to its conti...

We report the facile fabrication of three-dimensional (3D) silicon/hematite core/shell nanowire arrays decorated with gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and their potential application for sunlight-driven solar water splitting. The hematite and AuNPs respectively play crucial catalytic and plasmonic photosensitization roles, while silicon absorbs visible light and generates high photocurrent. Under sim...