Improved Light Harvesting of Fiber-Shaped Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells by Using a Bacteriophage Doping Method

Fiber-shaped solar cells (FSCs) with flexibility, wearability, and wearability have emerged as a topic of intensive interest and development in recent years. Although the development of this material is still in its early stages, bacteriophage-metallic nanostructures, which exhibit prominent localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) properties, are one such material that has been utilized to further improve the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of solar cells. This study confirmed that fiber-shaped dye-sensitized solar cells (FDSSCs) enhanced by silver nanoparticles-embedded M13 bacteriophage (Ag@M13) can be developed as solar cell devices with better PCE than the solar cells without them. The PCE of FDSSCs was improved by adding the Ag@M13 into an iodine species (I-/I-3(-)) based electrolyte, which is used for redox couple reactions. The optimized Ag@M13 enhanced FDSSC showed a PCE of up to 5.80%, which was improved by 16.7% compared to that of the reference device with 4.97%.

Automated summary

Fiber-shaped solar cells (FSCs) are a novel type of solar cell with flexibility, wearability, and durability. By incorporating silver nanoparticles-embedded M13 bacteriophage (Ag@M13), the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of dye-sensitized solar cells can be significantly improved, resulting in better performance compared to cells without this enhancement.