Metal nanoparticles based stack structured plasmonic luminescent solar concentrator

Abstract

Harvesting solar energy through the use of luminescent solar concentrators is an attractive route to meet the world's growing energy demands. In this study, we present an effective approach aimed at enhancing the edge emissions of luminescent solar concentrator based on stacking two waveguides, each containing a discrete set of metal nanoparticles (NPs) and organic luminophores. It is experimentally demonstrated that a stacked structured plasmonic luminescent solar concentrator (SPLSC) allows the light harvesting over a broad spectral range, while at the same time effectively exploits the plasmonic properties of silver and gold NPs leading to increased edge emissions. The results show a continuous transition from emission enhancement to quenching, depending on the luminophore-NPs distance (governed by NPs concentrations) in the SPLSC. Moreover, it is revealed that the NPs size also affects the edge emission of SPLSC. Edge emission measurements show SPLSC containing 20 nm silver and gold NPs give the maximum power efficiency which is almost 1.7 times more than that of simple stacked LSC without NPs. Photocurrent measurements are also performed as an additional evidence for the improved performance of SPLSC samples. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.