Enhanced photovoltaic performance of Y2O3:Ho3+/Yb3+ upconversion nanophosphor based DSSC and investigation of color tunability in Ho3+/Tm3+/Yb3+ tridoped Y2O3

The present study reports the upconversion (UC) based color tuning in Y2O3:Ho3+/Yb3+, Y2O3:Tm3+/Yb3+ and Y2O3:Tm3+/Ho3+/Yb3+ phosphors synthesized through complex based precursor solution method. The Y2O3:Ho3+/Yb3+ phosphor emits intense green and weak red colors whereas the Y2O3:Tm3+/Yb3+ emits NIR and blue colors on excitation with 976 nm. The impact of the enhancement in the concentration of Yb3+ on the color point of codoped as well as tridoped phosphors has been studied in detail. When Y2O3:Tm3+/Ho3+/Yb3+ phosphor is excited by 976 nm laser, the phosphor emits dominant green color. This is due to energy transfer from Tm3+ to Ho3+ ions. The increase in the concentration of Yb3+ ion leads to a color tunability not only in the co-doped but also in the tridoped phosphors. Furthermore, we have incorporated Y2O3:Ho3+,Yb3+ UC phosphor into TiO2 electrode to form an UC based DSSC for converting near IR (NIR) light into visible where DSSCs typically have high sensitivity. The short-circuit current density (Jsc) as well as the open-circuit voltage (Voc) of the UC-TiO2 based cell was found to be 8.46% and 5.18% higher which in turn, resulted into a 10.33% enhancement in power conversion efficiency as compared to that of bare TiO2 based DSSC. Thus, the UC based Y2O3:Ho3+/Yb3+ may be useful in color tunability and DSSC applications. •A series of Ho3+/Yb3+-codoped cubic Y2O3 [Y2O3:Ho3+(1%),Yb3+(x%), (x = 0, 5, 10, 20 and 30)] nanophosphors were prepared by complex based precursor solution Method.•Our research results reveal that Y2O3:Ho3+/Yb3+ phosphor is a promising material for conversion of sub-band gap photon to supra band-gap photon for enhancing the photoelectric conversion efficiency of solar cell.