Enhanced charge separation in chlorophyll a solar cell by gold nanoparticles

An efficient organic photoelectrochemical cell based on chlorophyll a (Chla) and gold nanoparticles is constructed. The enhanced performance of this cell is due to the beneficial role of gold nanoparticles in accepting and shuttling the photogenerated electrons in Chla to the collecting electrode. This produces a long-distance charge-separated state, resulting into an enhancement in charge separation efficiency. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.