Numerical Investigation on the Solar Absorption Performance of Plasmonic Nanoparticles in the Focused Electric Field

Xueqing Zhang, Fengwu Bai, Xuesong Zhang, Tengyue Wang and Zhifeng Wang ()
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Xueqing Zhang: School of Energy and Power Engineering, North University of China, Taiyuan 030051, China
Fengwu Bai: Institute of Electrical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
Xuesong Zhang: Institute of Electrical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
Tengyue Wang: Institute of Electrical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
Zhifeng Wang: Institute of Electrical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China

Energies, 2024, vol. 17, issue 9, 1-13

Abstract: Planar light concentrators are potential applications for solar thermal conversion, in which the intensity of the electric field will exhibit strongly non-uniform characteristics. However, previous research has long ignored the solar absorption performance of plasmonic nanoparticles in the focused electric field. In this work, we use the finite element method (FEM) to study the optical behaviors of a single nanoparticle and multiple nanoparticles in the focused electric field formed by vertically and inwardly imposing the initial incident light on a quarter cylindrical surface. The results show that the focused electric field can significantly improve the solar absorption abilities compared with the parallel one for all the nanoparticles due to the local near-electric field enhancement caused by the aggregation of the free electrons on the smaller zone. Further studies on the focused electric field reveal that the plasmon heating behavior of Au spheres presents a rising trend with the decrease in inter-particle spacing, as the gap is less than the radius of Au spheres. As the number of nanoparticles increases along the focal line, the absorption power of the center nanoparticles gradually tends to be stable, and it is much lower than that of a single nanoparticle. As the nanoparticles are arranged along the y and z directions, the heterogeneity of the electric field makes the optical properties uneven. Notably, the strongest electric field appears slightly close to the incident surface rather than on the focal line.

Keywords: plasmonic nanoparticles; focused electric field; solar absorption performance; planar light concentrators (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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