International Research Fellowship Program: Fabrication and Characterization of Inexpensive Solar Cells Based on Dye-Sensitized TiO2 Nanoparticles

国际研究奖学金计划：基于染料敏化二氧化钛纳米粒子的廉价太阳能电池的制造和表征

• 批准号: 0402129
• 负责人: Alexander Agrios
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Agrios Alexander G
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Fellowship
• 财政年份: 2004
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2004-09-01 至 2008-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0402129&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: International; Research; Fellowship; Program; Fabrication

0402129AgriosThe International Research Fellowship Program enables U.S. scientists and engineers to conduct three to twenty-four months of research abroad. The program's awards provide opportunities for joint research, and the use of unique or complementary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions abroad.This award will support a twenty-two-month research fellowship by Dr. Alexander G. Agrios to work with Dr. Michael Graetzel at Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne in Switzerland and with Dr. Anders Hagfeldt at Uppsala University of Sweden.Energy production from the combustion of fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide, nitrogen and sulfur oxides, mercury, and other pollutants, resulting in global climate change, acid rain, and photochemical smog, among other problems. Silicon-based solar energy technology has existed for decades but has been too costly to compete with fossil fuel use. Clearly, if the cost of solar energy production can be reduced to a level at which the displacement of fossil fuel consumption by solar energy conversion becomes practical, the environmental benefit would be enormous. In 1991, a novel type of solar cell was invented in the laboratory of Dr. Michael Gratzel at Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland. Unlike silicon solar cells, the so-called dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC), or Gratzel cell, uses a different semiconductor, titanium dioxide (TiO2), small (10 nm) particles of which are coated with a light-absorbing molecule (dye), which injects electrons into the TiO2 upon light absorption. In a silicon cell, any impurities or defects in the silicon crystals cripple the efficiency of solar energy conversion, requiring high materials processing costs to achieve the necessary silicon purity. In contrast, the fundamentally different mechanism of the Gratzel cell places much less stringent requirements on the TiO2 nanocrystals, resulting in a far less expensive technology. Dr. Agrios is working on the fabrication of a new generation of dye-sensitized solar cells with Dr. Gratzel at EPFL. An electrostatic layer-by-layer technique for film production, developed in the past decade, is being used to produce two new types of DSSC. The new cells are expected to exhibit better harvesting of the full spectrum of solar light and improved energy conversion efficiency. Dr. Anders Hagfeldt, at Uppsala University in Sweden, has been in close collaboration with Dr. Gratzel for a decade. His laboratory group has developed a suite of advanced characterization techniques for dye-sensitized solar cells known as the "toolbox". The second phase of the project will be spent at Dr. Hagfeldt's laboratory, using his techniques to understand electronic processes occurring in the layered TiO2 films produced at EPFL. In addition, Dr. Hagfeldt has developed a process for producing DSSCs without a high-temperature step, which allows the cells to be continuously fabricated on cheap, flexible plastic substrates. This process will be applied to the layer-by-layer Gratzel cells to determine whether the method of layer-by-layer film deposition is compatible with a low-temperature production technique.

0402129农业国际研究奖学金计划使美国科学家和工程师能够在国外进行三到二十四个月的研究。该计划的奖项提供了联合研究的机会，以及使用独特或互补的设施，专业知识和国外的实验条件。Agrios将与瑞士洛桑联邦理工学院的Michael Graetzel博士和瑞典乌普萨拉大学的Anders Hagfeldt博士合作。化石燃料燃烧产生的能源会释放二氧化碳、氮氧化物和硫氧化物、汞和其他污染物，导致全球气候变化、酸雨和光化学烟雾等问题。硅基太阳能技术已经存在了几十年，但成本太高，无法与化石燃料的使用竞争。显然，如果太阳能生产的成本能够降低到一个水平，在这个水平上，通过太阳能转换取代化石燃料的消耗变得可行，环境效益将是巨大的。1991年，瑞士洛桑联邦理工学院（EPFL）的Michael Gratzel博士的实验室发明了一种新型太阳能电池。与硅太阳能电池不同，所谓的染料敏化太阳能电池（DSSC）或Gratzel电池使用不同的半导体二氧化钛（TiO 2），其小（10 nm）颗粒涂有光吸收分子（染料），其在光吸收时将电子注入TiO 2。在硅电池中，硅晶体中的任何杂质或缺陷都会削弱太阳能转换的效率，需要高的材料加工成本来实现必要的硅纯度。相比之下，Gratzel电池的根本不同机制对TiO 2纳米晶体的要求要低得多，从而导致技术成本低得多。Agrios博士正在与EPFL的Gratzel博士合作制造新一代染料敏化太阳能电池。在过去的十年中开发的用于薄膜生产的静电逐层技术正在用于生产两种新型DSSC。新电池有望更好地收集太阳光的全光谱，并提高能量转换效率。瑞典乌普萨拉大学的Anders Hagfeldt博士与Gratzel博士密切合作了十年。他的实验室小组已经开发出一套先进的染料敏化太阳能电池表征技术，被称为“工具箱”。该项目的第二阶段将在Hagfeldt博士的实验室进行，利用他的技术来了解EPFL生产的分层TiO2薄膜中发生的电子过程。此外，Hagfeldt博士还开发了一种生产DSSC的工艺，而无需高温步骤，这使得电池可以在廉价，灵活的塑料基板上连续制造。该工艺将应用于逐层Gratzel电池，以确定逐层薄膜沉积的方法是否与低温生产技术兼容。