The incorporation of nanostructures that improve light scattering and dye adsorption has been suggested for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), but the manufacture of photonic and nanostructured materials with the desired properties is not an easy task. In nature, however, the process of light-harvesting for photosynthesis has, in some cases, evolved structures with remarkable wavelength-sensitive light-trapping properties. The present work is focused on enhancing the efficiency of quasi solid-state DSSCs by capitalizing on the light trapping properties of diatom frustules since they provide complex 3-dimensional structures for scattering and trapping light. This study reports a promising approach to prepare TiO₂ nanocrystal (14 nm) based photo-electrodes by utilizing the waveguiding and photon localization effects of nanostructured diatom frustules for enhancing light harvesting without deteriorating the electron conduction. Single and double-layered photo-electrodes were prepared with different frustule/nanocrystal combinations and conformations on transparent conductive oxide substrates. This study clearly reports impressive efficiency and short circuit current density enhancements of about 35% and 39%, respectively, due to the incorporation of diatom frustules extracted from a ubiquitous species. The SEM images obtained in this work reveal that the produced thin films had a remarkable surface coverage of evenly distributed frustules within the TiO₂ nanoparticle layer. To the best of our knowledge, this study reports the first quasi solid-state DSSC based on a photo-electrode with incorporated bio-formed nanostructures.

中文翻译：

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硅藻壳提高了基于凝胶聚合物电解质的具有多层光电极的染料敏化太阳能电池的效率

已建议在染料敏化太阳能电池 (DSSC) 中加入可改善光散射和染料吸附的纳米结构，但制造具有所需性能的光子和纳米结构材料并非易事。然而，在自然界中，光合作用的光收集过程在某些情况下已经进化出具有显着波长敏感光捕获特性的结构。目前的工作重点是通过利用硅藻壳的光捕获特性来提高准固态 DSSC 的效率，因为它们提供了用于散射和捕获光的复杂 3 维结构。该研究报告了一种有前景的制备 TiO _2的方法基于纳米晶体（14 nm）的光电极，利用纳米结构硅藻壳的波导和光子定位效应在不降低电子传导的情况下增强光收集。在透明导电氧化物基板上制备了具有不同硅藻壳/纳米晶体组合和构象的单层和双层光电极。这项研究清楚地报告了令人印象深刻的效率和短路电流密度分别提高了约 35% 和 39%，这是由于掺入了从普遍存在的物种中提取的硅藻壳。在这项工作中获得的 SEM 图像表明，所生产的薄膜在 TiO _{2内具有显着的均匀分布的硅藻壳的表面覆盖率。}纳米颗粒层。据我们所知，这项研究报告了第一个基于具有生物形成纳米结构的光电极的准固态 DSSC。