Plasmonic Au nanoparticles enhanced photovoltaic characteristics of perovskite BiFeO₃ nanostructures

In the process of solar photovoltaic, ferroelectric semiconductors such as BiFeO₃ are found to be new class of materials as an alternative to traditional semiconductors for more energy generations. The efficient chare transformation as well as the enhanced optical absorbance are the key factors for better performance of these ferroelectric semiconductors, which can be facilitated by depositing plasmonic Au nanoparticles on the surface of BiFeO₃. As a result, the photoelectrochemical (PEC) and photovoltaic (PV) performance of BFO could be enhanced. We developed the BiFeO₃ nanostructures via a facile approach and then we have deposited Au nanoparticles on the surfaces of the BiFeO₃ nanoparticles. Electron microscopic images revealed the aggregation of 20–40 nm sized BiFeO₃ nanoparticles and the spherical shaped Au nanoparticles of ~ 30 nm. In addition to a noticeable enhancement in the optical spectrum, the plasmonic effect could be seen in the absorbance spectra after the decoration of Au nanoparticles. In order to assess the enhanced photovoltaic and photoelectrochemical performance of the Au-decorated BFO nanostructures, a comparative examination of pristine BFO was performed. Studies on the time-dependent photocurrent density also confirmed the stability of treated photoelectrode materials using Au nanoparticles. This really raised the charge transfer efficiency by delivering better conductivity, which was investigated using Nyquist plot. The incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency [IPCE(%)] also confirmed the enhancement of photovoltaic by Au nanoparticles. The DSSC efficiency of produced Au-decorated BiFeO₃ nanostructures is ~ 20% higher than the pristine BiFeO₃-based cells.