Plasmonic-Enhanced Organic Photovoltaic Devices for Low-Power Light Applications

In this study, we prepared plasmonic-enhanced organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices incorporating gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) for low-power lighting applications. Gold NP-decorated graphene oxides were incorporated into the hole-transporting and active layer layers of the OPVs to trigger plasmonic effects. After adding the Au NPs, the devices exhibited higher photocurrents and power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) under both 1-sun and low-level illumination conditions; PCE enhancement factors of greater than 20% were achieved. Most interestingly, the device enhancement factors were much higher under low-level lighting than they were under sunlight. We attribute the improvement in device efficiency to the localized surface plasmon resonance originating from the Au NPs.