Plasmon enhanced dye-sensitized solar cells: Current status and multiscale modeling

This talk will describe our recent work on developing plasmon-enhanced dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) with emphasis on theory and modeling of the optical properties of these cells. On the experimental side, we have recently been involved in a collaboration with Joe Hupp in which TiO₂-coated silver particles were used in a DSSC, and the resulting photocurrent was shown to be enhanced by a substantial factor for a relatively inefficient cell as a result of plasmon enhanced absorption. The optical properties of these particles have been modeled with classical electrodynamics, and the conditions needed (particle size, TiO₂ thickness) for reasonable enhancements have been worked out. On a more fundamental level, a new theoretical approach is described which enables us to model the plasmon enhancement of a TiO₂ coated silver particle using classical electrodynamics (FDTD), and the optical adsorption of dye molecules using real-time quantum mechanics (RT-TDDFT).