In conclusion, TiO2 nanoparticles loaded with Au nanoparticles
are hydrothermally in situ synthesized and are
shown to yield solar energy conversion efficiency of 6%,
considerably higher than the unloaded TiO2 nanoparticles
without light harvesting. The transport improvement is
revealed by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy which
brings out that the charge transfer resistance including
recombination of electrons with I
3 at the TiO2/electrolyte
interface is lower for TiO2–Au as compared to unloaded
TiO2 nanoparticles. Different characterizations are employed
to elucidate the probable causes of the observations.