Plasmonic silver loaded anatase titanium dioxide nanospheres photoanode for dye-sensitized solar cell

Silver (Ag) loaded TiO2 nanospheres (Ag-TiO2 NS) are synthesized by a combination of solvothermal and chemical reduction routes and characterized by FESEM, HRTEM, EDAX, UV–Vis DRS, XRD and PL techniques. The Ag-TiO2 NS have exhibited strong light absorption and better dye adsorption. The dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) performance of pristine TiO2 NS and Ag-TiO2 NS photoanodes is examined under artificial light illumination. The DSSC with 2 wt% loaded Ag-TiO2 NS photoanode has delivered PCE of 6.04 % with short-circuit photocurrent density of 13.56 mA cm−2 and open circuit voltage of 0.75 V that is ∼43 % greater over the PCE of DSSC containing pristine TiO2 NS photoanode (4.16 %). This boosted performance can be accredited to visible light harvesting and fast photogenerated electrons transfer facilitated by the plasmonic Ag.