MoS₂/Ag/TiO₂ for photoanode of dye sensitized solar cells

In this paper, we demonstrate the application of a novel ternary nanocomposite MoS₂/Ag/TiO₂ photoanode in high efficiency plasma dye sensitive solar cell (PDSSC). Ternary nanocomposites MoS₂/Ag/TiO₂ was successfully synthesized by a simple solvothermal method without any hazardous substances. In order to achieve higher photoelectric con-version efficiency of DSSC, the photoanode's ability of capturing light and electron transfer rates needs to be improved. Ag provides a power for light capture, while MoS₂ inhibits electron-hole recombination and promotes electron transport in the ternary nano-composite MoS₂/Ag/TiO₂. The nanocomposite was characterized by scanning electron microscope and transmission electronmicroscope, which indicated that the MoS₂/Ag/TiO₂ was synthesized. Due to local surface plasmon resonance (LSPR), silver nanoparticles were doped onto TiO₂ nanoparticles, which greatly improved the optical parameters. The synthesis of Ag nanoparticles and MoS₂ was confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The performance of dye sensitive solar cell (DSSC) composed of ternary nano-composite material MoS₂/Ag/TiO₂ was tested, the photoelectric conversion efficiency (PCE) reaches 9.3%, which is 26% higher than that of pure TiO₂ nanoparticle photoanode. © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V.