6 research outputs found
Biotemplated Synthesis of TiO<sub>2</sub>‑Coated Gold Nanowire for Perovskite Solar Cells
Fibrous
nanomaterials have been widely employed toward the improvement
of photovoltaic devices. Their light-trapping capabilities, owing
to their unique structure, provide a direct pathway for carrier transport.
This paper reports the improvement of perovskite solar cell (PSC)
performance by a well-dispersed TiO<sub>2</sub>-coated gold nanowire
(GNW) in a TiO<sub>2</sub> cell layer. We used an artificially designed
cage-shaped protein to synthesize a TiO<sub>2</sub>-coated GNW in
aqueous solution under atmospheric pressure. The artificially cage-shaped
protein with gold-binding peptides and titanium-compound-biomineralizing
peptides can bind GNWs and selectively deposit a thin TiO<sub>2</sub> layer on the gold surface. The TiO<sub>2</sub>-coated GNW incorporated
in the photoelectrodes of PSCs increased the external quantum efficiency
within the range of 350–750 nm and decreased the internal resistance
by 12%. The efficient collection of photogenerated electrons by the
nanowires boosted the power conversion efficiency by 33% compared
to a typical mesoporous-TiO<sub>2</sub>-nanoparticle-only electrode