Department of Chemistry2024-11-0920211385-894710.1016/j.cej.2020.1277562-s2.0-85097686010http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2020.127756https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14288/8356Improving the conversion efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) requires enhancing the photogeneration of charge carriers as well as facilitating their transport to electrodes before charge recombination or quenching can occur. Here we describe a simple, fast and large-area scalable procedure for the preparation of a nanocomposite made of functional gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) to improve the performance of DSSCs. We fabricated AuNP/MWCNT inlaid mesoporous TiO2 films as photoanodes in DSSCs, to improve crucial factors including light absorption, charge-carrier generation, collection and transport. By using a AuNP/MWCNT nanocomposite directly inlaid in TiO2 as the working electrode, a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 6.61% and short-circuit photocurrent density (Jsc) of 12.26 mA cm-2 were obtained, representing an enhancement of -31% in PCE and -19% in Jsc compared to a control cell based on TiO2 alone. In addition, DSSCs based on the TiO2/AuNP/MWCNT photoanode remained remarkably stable compared with the control device, retaining 92% of the initial PCE value after ten days of continuous illumination.EngineeringEnvironmental engineeringEngineeringChemical engineeringJournal Article1873-3212664191900002Q11477