Plasmon-enhanced solar Photoconversion devices
Final Report Abstract
Future generations of photoelectrodes must employ cheap, earth-abundant absorber materials in order to provide a large-scale source of clean energy. These materials will likely have relatively poor electrical properties, so progress must be made in optimizing their absorption properties. In this project we have demonstrated the use of plasmonic metal nanostructures to enhance the efficiency of solar fuel generation. Metal nanoparticles have been used for decades to decorate photoelectrode materials and to influence the photocatalytic activity of reactions. However, it is a lot more challenging to determine the origins of the observed enhancements / suppressions of the photocurrent and chemical reactions. We have established that plasmonic effects can play a role, and can be designed to enhance the absorption in abundant, non-toxic thin film absorber materials close to the semiconductor/water interface. The photogenerated carriers can thus be used more efficiently to drive the water splitting reaction, due to decreased recombination losses which are a common problem to many cheap and abundant materials that will be needed to drive solar-to-fuel conversion at a large scale. Specifically, we have provided a detailed comparison of the spectral features in the measured photocurrent to full field electromagnetic simulations for gold nanoparticle/ hematite model systems. We then investigated silica-coated gold shells/ hematite systems, and we could show an increase of the total wavelength-integrated photocurrent by 10% in an operating photoelectrochemical cell. We have provided further insight by showing that it is possible to tune the energy of maximum absorption enhancement by exploiting the interplay between plasmon resonances and Fabry-Perot resonances. This project opens up an exciting new avenue for the use of plasmonic structures, exploiting the unique optical properties of metal nanostructures to direct electromagnetic energy precisely where it is needed to drive photoelectrochemical reactions.
Publications
- “Plasmons and Rust For Solar Energy Conversion”, Gordon Research Conference on Noble Metal Nanoparticles, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA USA (2010)
Thomann, I.; Pinaud, B.; Chen, Z.; Jaramillo, T.; Brongersma, M.
- “Plasmons and Rust For Solar Energy Conversion”, Gordon Research Conference on Plasmonics, Colby College, Waterville, ME, USA (2010)
Thomann, I.; Pinaud, B.; Chen, Z.; Jaramillo, T.; Brongersma, M
- “Plasmon Enhanced Solar-to-Fuel Energy Conversion”, Nano Lett. 2011, 11, 3440–3446
Thomann, I.; Pinaud, B. A.; Chen, Z.; Clemens, B. M.; Jaramillo, T. F.; Brongersma, M. L.
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1021/nl201908s) - “Plasmon-enhanced photoelectrochemical cells” Annual Program Review for DOE-EFRC, Center on Nanostructuring for Efficient Energy Conversion at Stanford University, 11/15/2011
Isabell Thomann
- “Plasmon-enhanced photoelectrochemical cells”, SPIE Optics+Photonics 2011, San Diego CA, USA
Thomann, I.; Pinaud, B.A.; Pala, R.; Seo, M-K; Chen, Z.; Jaramillo, T.F.; Brongersma, M.L.
- “Plasmon-enhanced solar energy conversion to fuels”, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin, Berlin, Germany, 5/19/2011
Isabell Thomann
- “Plasmon-enhanced solar energy conversion to fuels”, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany, 5/17/2011
Isabell Thomann
- “Plasmon-enhanced solar energy conversion to fuels”, University of Kaiserslautern, Kaiserslautern, Germany, 5/16/2011
Isabell Thomann
- “Plasmons and rust for solar energy conversion”, CLEO/Europe-EQEC 2011, Munich, Germany
Thomann, I.; Pinaud, B.A.; Pala, R.; Seo, M-K; Chen, Z.; Jaramillo, T.F.;Brongersma, M.L.
- “Plasmons and rust for solar energy conversion”, Energy Frontier Research Center (EFRC) Summit meeting in Washington DC May 25-27, 2011
Thomann, I.; Pinaud, B.A.; Chen, Z.; Clemens, B.M.; Jaramillo, T.F.; Brongersma, M.L.
- “Plasmons and rust for solar energy conversion”, Materials Research Society (MRS) Spring Meeting 2011, San Francisco CA, USA
Thomann, I.; Pinaud, B.A.; Pala, R.; Seo, M-K; Chen, Z.; Jaramillo, T.F.; Brongersma, M. L.
