Multilayered plasmonic nanostructures for solar energy harvesting

TL;DR

This paper theoretically investigates multilayered gold-silica nanostructures' optical properties and their potential for solar energy harvesting, providing insights into efficiency and temperature dynamics to accelerate material testing.

Contribution

It introduces a theoretical framework combining Mie theory and heat transfer for analyzing multilayered plasmonic nanostructures in solar energy applications.

Findings

Absorption cross-section varies with structure, affecting efficiency.

Predicted temperature increase aligns with experimental data.

Insights into mechanisms improve solar power conversion understanding.

Abstract

Optical properties of core-shell-shell Au@SiO2@Au nanostructures and their solar energy harvesting applications are theoretically investigated using Mie theory and heat transfer equations. The theoretical analysis associated with size-dependent modification of the bulk gold dielectric function agrees well with previous experimental results. We use the appropriate absorption cross-section to determine the solar energy absorption efficiency of the nano-heterostructures, which is strongly structure-dependent, and to predict the time-dependent temperature increase of the nanoshell solution under simulated solar irradiation. Comparisons to prior temperature measurements and theoretical evaluation of the solar power conversion efficiency are discussed to provide new insights into underlying mechanisms. Our approach would accelerate materials and structure testing in solar energy harvesting.