CAREER: Heavy Metal Complexes as Triplet Absorbers for Organic Photovoltaics

无机、生物无机和有机金属化学项目的CAREER奖支持亚利桑那州立大学的李健教授开发一系列稳定的金属复合物和聚合物材料，作为光伏应用的活性材料。所提出的金属-配合物吸收剂将被设计为具有扩展的吸收光谱，从而改善与太阳源的匹配，并且由于金属离子的掺入而改变了有机吸收剂的激子特性，这将导致材料中的激子扩散长度变长。具体研究目标包括：(1)合成新型有机/有机金属化合物并研究其光物理和电化学性质；(2)测量材料的电荷迁移率和激子扩散长度，并将材料的结构变化与有机薄膜的性能联系起来；(3)研究有机固体中电荷输运和能量传递的机理和过程；(4)在本项目结束时实现10%或更高功率转换效率的有机光伏电池。本研究直接解决了提高有机太阳能电池功率转换效率的一些关键挑战。参与本项目的学生将学习现代有机合成、器件物理和工程，以及材料和器件特性。教育目标包括：(1)开发太阳能电力教育模块，覆盖大量K-8学生和教师（每年超过20,000人）；(2)通过提供暑期辅导和为高中先修课程创建教育模块，拓展到当地高中。教育模块“太阳能发电”将与现有的“科学是乐趣”项目整合在一起。该项目每年培训本科生实习生访问70多所学校，为2万多名学生和教师做数百次演讲。教育外展将针对代表性不足的关键群体，包括少数民族和女学生。

This CAREER award in the Inorganic, Bioinorganic and Organometallic Chemistry program supports Professor Jian Li at Arizona State University to develop a range of stable metal-complex and polymeric materials as active materials for photovoltaic applications. The proposed metal-complex absorbers will be designed to have extended absorption spectra, resulting in an improved matching to the solar source, and modified exciton properties of organic absorbers due to the incorporation of metal ions, which will lead to long exciton diffusion lengths in the materials. Specific research aims include: (1) synthesizing novel organic/organometallic compounds and studying their photophysical and electrochemical properties; (2) measuring the charge mobility and exciton diffusion length of the proposed materials, and correlating the structural changes of materials and properties of organic thin films; (3) studying the mechanisms and processes of charge transport and energy transfer in the organic solids; (4) achieving organic photovoltaic cells with 10% power conversion efficiency or higher at the end of this program. This research directly addresses some critical challenges in improving the power conversion efficiency of organic solar cells. Students working on this project will learn modern organic synthesis, device physics and engineering, as well as materials and device characterization. The educational aims include: (1) developing an educational module on solar electricity to reach a large number of K-8 students and teachers (over 20,000 per year); (2) outreach to local high schools by providing summer mentorship and creating educational modules for high school advanced-placement classes. The educational module, Solar Electricity, will be integrated with current existing Science is Fun program. This program trains undergraduate interns to visit more than 70 schools annually and give several hundred presentations to over 20,000 students and teachers. Educational outreach will target key underrepresented groups, including minority as well as female students.